Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $352.57 Million Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 5,925.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 891,153 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $352,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,446 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 2,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 1,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $449.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $448.86 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $392.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $395.94. The company has a market capitalization of $49.94 billion, a PE ratio of 46.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.56. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $298.70 and a 1 year high of $463.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 57.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total value of $1,818,727.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 134 shares in the company, valued at $60,563.98. The trade was a 96.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total value of $1,133,039.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,353,591.76. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 59,087 shares of company stock worth $24,296,483 over the last three months. 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.