Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the 1st 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,912,000 after buying an additional 365,795 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 955,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $278,387,000 after buying an additional 54,948 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,461,000 after buying an additional 388,400 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ROK. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. 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 note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. 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 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.80.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $261.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $265.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.14. The firm has a market cap of $29.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Rockwell Automation

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.