Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 worth $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth about $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 388,400 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE ROK traded down $2.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $270.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 165,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,315. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.01 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen cut 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 report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.47.

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.