Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 397 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $12,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROK. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $258.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.37. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.80.

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.