Achmea Investment Management B.V. Sells 2,670 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lowered its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 31.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,670 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $4,092,891,000 after buying an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,912,000 after purchasing an additional 365,795 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 955,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $278,387,000 after purchasing an additional 54,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $250,461,000 after purchasing an additional 388,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.80.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.9 %

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $262.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.92. 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 (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.