HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,205 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $5,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 468.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 91 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 4.1%

ROK opened at $358.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $404.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $380.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.97, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.53. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.00 and a fifty-two week high of $438.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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. On average, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ROK. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $329.00 to $448.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $410.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $418.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.21, for a total value of $485,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,479.77. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 14,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.01, for a total value of $5,930,794.65. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,835,262.32. The trade was a 50.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 49,228 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,391 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.