Focus Financial Network Inc. Buys 585 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 45.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at $118,345,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 82.4% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted 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 period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $280.14.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $265.41. The company had a trading volume of 449,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,555. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $30.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.37. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $317.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.56.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 34.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.01 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 48.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of Rockwell Automation 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,204,309.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 248 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.37, for a total transaction of $63,579.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,547.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of Rockwell Automation 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,309.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,732 shares of company stock worth $445,133. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.