Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 20,275 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 783,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 20,275 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.69% of Rockwell Automation worth $208,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 35.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,014 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,617,000 after buying an additional 41,516 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 87,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,398,000 after buying an additional 15,040 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.5% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth $1,379,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, July 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.8 %

ROK stock traded up $2.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $268.72. The stock had a trading volume of 718,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,628. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $266.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.59. The company has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase 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 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.82%.

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.