Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Purchases 4,403 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,403 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the first 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during 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 buying an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 388,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $268.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.69. 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 current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.82%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 management 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.