Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires 156 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 11.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth $26,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 1,707.7% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROK. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $269.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $30.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $265.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.05.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.01 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation 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.