Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 7,574 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 172,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,574 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $46,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.7% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.5% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $273.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.67. The firm has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $312.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 stock is undervalued.

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 is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,000. This represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock worth $8,560,594 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ROK. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.13.

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.