Aberdeen Group plc Has $45.25 Million Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 116,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.10% of Rockwell Automation worth $45,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 75.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 142.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after acquiring an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 233.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $486,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Argus raised Rockwell Automation to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $410.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.67.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $364.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.54. 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 50 day simple moving average of $387.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.20. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.00 and a 1 year high of $438.72.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.16%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 12,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 owned 12,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,932,094. This represents a 49.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.37, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 32.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,727 shares of company stock valued at $19,786,132. Corporate 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.