Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Director Patricia Watson Sells 1,100 Shares of Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Director Patricia Watson sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total value of $474,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,754,680.55. This trade represents a 14.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $430.73 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $332.71 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.83 billion, a PE ratio of 40.37, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $458.33 and its 200-day moving average is $427.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore set a $485.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.19.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 176,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,388,000 after acquiring an additional 8,216 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,119,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 50,536.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,037,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,605,459,000 after purchasing an additional 83,871,888 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 125.4% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.0% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

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.