Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 229,482 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,612,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.7%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $432.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $48.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $460.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $427.16. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $332.71 and a twelve month high of $497.36.

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

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.19.

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.