New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 15,217 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 73,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,217 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $19,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at $148,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 14.2% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.6% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 66,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.93.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.5 %

ROK stock opened at $264.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $265.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.44.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.82%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.