King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,381 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $123,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $352,572,000 after purchasing an additional 891,153 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 122.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 819,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $286,522,000 after purchasing an additional 451,038 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 1,666.2% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 321,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,451,000 after purchasing an additional 303,506 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 126.2% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 321,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,536,000 after purchasing an additional 179,606 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 167.2% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 260,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,637,000 after purchasing an additional 162,805 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 14,465 shares of the 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 owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,835,262.32. This represents a 50.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $480,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,774,800. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 26,178 shares of company stock valued at $10,997,512 over the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROK. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $449.16.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.9%

ROK opened at $456.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $50.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $403.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $400.03. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $305.44 and a one year high of $463.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.