Calamos Advisors LLC Invests $849,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $469.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total value of $246,251.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,237,525.72. This represents a 16.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.58, for a total value of $269,748.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,994,786.46. The trade was a 11.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886 in the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $469.08 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $305.44 and a 1 year high of $497.36. The firm has a market cap of $52.19 billion, a PE ratio of 48.76, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.38.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation 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.