Jacobs & Co. CA Lowers Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Jacobs & Co. CA lessened its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 5.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,790 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,427 shares during the period. Rockwell Automation comprises about 1.1% of Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $12,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,527,249,000 after acquiring an additional 114,469 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,943,844,000 after purchasing an additional 202,705 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,133,397,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,136,801,000 after purchasing an additional 276,021 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $818,986,000 after purchasing an additional 24,719 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $468.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. This trade represents a 15.80% 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 sold 1,649 shares of company stock valued at $722,119 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $440.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $464.99 and a 200-day moving average of $425.44. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $328.70 and a 52-week high of $497.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted 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 net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.19 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. Shareholders 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 is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.