Eastern Bank Makes New $266,000 Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,003,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 186.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,292,000 after purchasing an additional 9,596 shares during the period. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $304,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the 1st 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. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth $2,817,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROK. Bank of America lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $267.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 4.68 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 current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.37.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management 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.