Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Takes Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $439,912,000 after purchasing an additional 365,795 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the first 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 grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,461,000 after purchasing an additional 388,400 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $266.44 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $265.56 and its 200-day moving average is $267.37. The stock has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROK. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.47.

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.