Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Sells 10,757 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC decreased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,757 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Rockwell Automation worth $18,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.60.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.1 %

ROK opened at $271.16 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.