BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,844 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $40,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after buying an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 986,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,929,000 after purchasing an additional 41,605 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,789,000 after purchasing an additional 48,951 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ROK. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.13.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

ROK opened at $294.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.86. The company has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation 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.