Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases Shares of 29,714 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 29,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,711,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Flputnam Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,001,000. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 26.9% in the first quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 22,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $281,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 169,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 197.9% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 13,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 9,238 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.4%

ROK opened at $437.50 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $332.71 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $461.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.00. The company has a market cap of $48.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.19.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,314.70. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% 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 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331 in the last 90 days. Company 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.