Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 13.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at $912,000. Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at $304,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 670,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $179,873,000 after buying an additional 19,987 shares during the period. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $293.83 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.49. The stock has a market cap of $33.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target 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, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.13.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,746 shares of company stock valued at $9,152,594 in the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Rockwell Automation

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.