Acadian Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Acadian Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,811 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,003,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 186.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,292,000 after acquiring an additional 9,596 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.1% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 60,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares during the period. Mairs & Power Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 384,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $119,437,000 after buying an additional 9,132 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 99,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,019,000 after acquiring an additional 4,089 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ROK. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered 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 note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.80.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $262.92 on Monday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76. The company has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $265.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.