Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Grows Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,162 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $747,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,006,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $334,354,000 after buying an additional 12,262 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.8% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 52.9% during the second quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 7,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,645 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $363.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America raised Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $347.94.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $357.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.14 billion, a PE ratio of 41.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $361.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $345.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $321.41. 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 (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.15. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,272,903.52. This represents a 24.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.08, for a total transaction of $499,494.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,318,178.96. This trade represents a 27.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,553 shares of company stock worth $10,361,079. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.