Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Stake Cut by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lessened its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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 valued at $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.80.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $261.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.14. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.01 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.