California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 5,384 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,384 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Rockwell Automation worth $70,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,943,844,000 after acquiring an additional 202,705 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,136,801,000 after acquiring an additional 276,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $818,986,000 after acquiring an additional 24,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $469.33.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ROK stock opened at $461.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $305.44 and a 1 year high of $497.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $461.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $419.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,353,591.76. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation 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.