Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 1,401 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lessened its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 61,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,401 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $16,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,779,000 after purchasing an additional 341,814 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $291.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $275.94 and a 200-day moving average of $268.31. The company has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,746 shares of company stock worth $9,152,594 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.