Avitas Wealth Management LLC Has $421,000 Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 438,356 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased 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 worth $278,387,000 after acquiring an additional 54,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% during the 1st 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, July 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $280.14.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK traded up $7.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $270.98. The stock had a trading volume of 512,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 945,347. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $317.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $266.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.45. The firm has a market cap of $30.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 34.83%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.88%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.11, for a total transaction of $171,412.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,204,309.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 528 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.78, for a total transaction of $133,995.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,718 shares in the company, valued at $943,554.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.11, for a total transaction of $171,412.49. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,204,309.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,732 shares of company stock valued at $445,133. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.