Commerce Bank Buys Shares of 45,211 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Commerce Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 45,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,383,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth approximately $6,129,376,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 202,705 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,136,801,000 after acquiring an additional 276,021 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331 in the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $437.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $332.71 and a one year high of $497.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $461.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.00.

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.19.

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.