Huntington National Bank Increases Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 214,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,563 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $57,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 60,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,817,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 16.1% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after buying an additional 3,864 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 3.1 %

ROK opened at $286.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.84. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $312.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $267.36 and its 200 day moving average is $266.55. The stock has a market cap of $32.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 60.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROK. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $285.13.

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.