Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Position Increased by Boston Common Asset Management LLC

Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $4,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 82.4% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,461,000 after acquiring an additional 388,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on 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 Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.60.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $268.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $262.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.27. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.01 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.