Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Shares Bought by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 15.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 602,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,545 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.54% of Rockwell Automation worth $216,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 price objective for the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One research analyst has 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $469.33.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $462.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $461.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.04. The firm has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $305.44 and a 52-week high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at $6,353,591.76. The trade was a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.58, for a total transaction of $269,748.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,994,786.46. This trade represents a 11.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886 in the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.