Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 42 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 acquiring an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in 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 buying an additional 700,745 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth approximately $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $250,461,000 after acquiring an additional 388,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ROK. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.80.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $261.06 on Tuesday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $264.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.64. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.01 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.