Boston Common Asset Management LLC Sells 2,816 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Boston Common Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,816 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $7,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northstar Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 137.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 3,290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 26,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,212,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 43,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,873,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $439.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $417.22.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $348.21 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $391.56 and a 200-day moving average of $381.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.53. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.00 and a 1 year high of $438.72.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 14,465 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.01, for a total value of $5,930,794.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,835,262.32. This trade represents a 50.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 1,271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $405.69, for a total value of $515,631.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,687 shares in the company, valued at $684,399.03. This represents a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 49,228 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,391 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

About Rockwell Automation

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.