Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $470,091,000 after purchasing an additional 191,370 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,579,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $408,229,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,448,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $374,176,000 after purchasing an additional 30,837 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $360,777,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.0% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 11,849 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $381.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $363.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America raised Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $347.94.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 24,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.13, for a total transaction of $8,543,172.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,366,453.49. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.08, for a total transaction of $499,494.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,318,178.96. This represents a 27.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,553 shares of company stock valued at $10,361,079 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $357.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.90, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $345.80 and a 200-day moving average of $321.41.

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