Abacus Planning Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Abacus Planning Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,014 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $470,091,000 after purchasing an additional 191,370 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,579,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $408,229,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,448,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $374,176,000 after purchasing an additional 30,837 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $360,777,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,170,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,307,000 after acquiring an additional 11,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,435 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.08, for a total value of $499,494.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,318,178.96. This trade represents a 27.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,272,903.52. This trade represents a 24.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,922 shares of company stock worth $11,191,812. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $345.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $371.00 to $363.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. CICC Research started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $381.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $345.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $346.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.00 and a 12-month high of $360.92.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 12.03%.The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.