Cyril Perducat Sells 198 Shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Cyril Perducat sold 198 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total value of $78,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,195. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $405.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $382.71 and its 200 day moving average is $384.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $222.06 and a one year high of $438.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.29. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.92% and a net margin of 11.56%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 75.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth approximately $868,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROK. Zacks Research lowered Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $410.00 to $360.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.67.

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.