Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank decreased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,642 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $6,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after buying an additional 700,745 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after buying an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at approximately $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,461,000 after acquiring an additional 388,400 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.80.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $268.30 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The stock has a market cap of $30.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.