Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Stock Position Lifted by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth $275,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth $300,000. Davis R M Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.9% in the third quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 85,468 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,945,000 after purchasing an additional 9,105 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.1% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 670,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $179,873,000 after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 8.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $273.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.67.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a 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 stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594 in the last three months. 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.