Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 10.3% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth about $307,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 66.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 47,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,648,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total transaction of $82,620.27. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,111.83. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,000. This represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,070 shares of company stock worth $10,142,408 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $295.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.68, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $277.67 and a 200 day moving average of $268.83. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $312.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.47.

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.