Machina Capital S.A.S. Trims Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Machina Capital S.A.S. lessened its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,422 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,777 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $777,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 796.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,342,000 after acquiring an additional 86,500 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 617,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $215,750,000 after acquiring an additional 157,601 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, December 15th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $440.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $410.12.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 2,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.45, for a total transaction of $956,176.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,964 shares in the company, valued at $792,375.80. This represents a 54.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 5,564 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.02, for a total value of $2,236,839.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 94,585 shares in the company, valued at $38,025,061.70. This trade represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,531 shares of company stock worth $10,259,637. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $430.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $48.32 billion, a PE ratio of 56.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $406.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.14. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.00 and a 52-week high of $438.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $3.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 10.42%.Rockwell Automation’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company’s product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.