Bank of Montreal Can Raises Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 172,827 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,574 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.15% of Rockwell Automation worth $46,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,089,000. The trade was a 21.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $294.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 637,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,603. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $273.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.86.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation's quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.