Vantage Point Financial LLC Invests $218,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Vantage Point Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 720.8% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 399,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,638,000 after buying an additional 350,662 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth about $73,908,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth about $63,632,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 213.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 357,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,263,000 after buying an additional 243,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1,950.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 202,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,360,000 after buying an additional 192,898 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 269 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.26, for a total transaction of $95,564.94. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,613 shares in the company, valued at $573,034.38. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 24,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.13, for a total value of $8,543,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 83,873 shares in the company, valued at $29,366,453.49. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,922 shares of company stock worth $11,191,812. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $371.00 to $363.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.68.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $342.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.98. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.00 and a 12-month high of $360.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $38.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.19, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.41.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.