Diversified Trust Co. Lowers Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Diversified Trust Co. trimmed its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,411 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth about $368,575,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 128.9% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 866,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,989,000 after purchasing an additional 488,262 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 122.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 819,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $286,522,000 after buying an additional 451,038 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 294.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 429,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,664,000 after buying an additional 320,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1,666.2% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 321,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,451,000 after buying an additional 303,506 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.37, for a total value of $812,599.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,217.32. This represents a 32.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 12,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.27, for a total value of $4,891,667.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,932,094. This represents a 49.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,228 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,391. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $460.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $418.33.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ROK opened at $360.95 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $395.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $381.50. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $438.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $40.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.30, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.53.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.400-12.200 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.16%.

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.