BNP Paribas Buys 436 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 21.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during 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% during 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% during 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% during 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% during 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. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ROK opened at $294.95 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The stock 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $273.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.13.

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.