North Star Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

North Star Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,586 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $17,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,086 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 180.5% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,759 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at about $777,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 796.0% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,342,000 after buying an additional 86,500 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Rockwell Automation this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New global research (the “OEM Advantage Playbook”) shows top OEMs cut downtime recovery by ~40%, positioning Rockwell’s resilience-first solutions as a clear value driver for machine builders and end customers — a potential tailwind for revenue and service demand. New research shows top OEMs cut downtime recovery by 40%, strengthening profitability through resilience-first strategies
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of the same research in industry press (emphasizing 24?hour recovery as a competitive edge) reinforces the narrative that Rockwell’s software and services can drive measurable operational improvements for OEMs — supportive for recurring revenue and margin expansion. Rockwell research: 24-hour recovery becomes competitive edge for OEMs
• Positive Sentiment: Rockwell opened a Customer Experience Center in Bologna to accelerate industrial innovation across EMEA — this expands local sales/engineering footprint and can shorten customer adoption cycles for automation and digital transformation projects. Rockwell Automation Opens Bologna Customer Experience Center to Accelerate Industrial Innovation Across Europe, Middle East and Africa
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ consensus is modestly favorable — the stock received an average “Moderate Buy” rating in recent coverage, which supports investor confidence but is not an outright upgrade spree. Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Research/earnings estimate updates (Zacks/Q1 estimate coverage) are being circulated — useful for short-term expectation setting but not headline-moving on their own. What is Zacks Research’s Estimate for ROK Q1 Earnings?
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: traders bought ~2,755 put contracts (?189% above typical volume), indicating increased bearish bets or hedging that could pressure the stock or increase near-term volatility.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised Rockwell Automation to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $329.00 to $448.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $460.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $418.33.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $405.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.39, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $406.59 and a 200 day moving average of $377.16. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $438.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.29. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.48, for a total transaction of $58,762.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,803.76. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.02, for a total value of $191,361.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $965,250.02. This represents a 16.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,531 shares of company stock worth $10,259,637. 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.