Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 642.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 30,421 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $12,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth about $1,556,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 744,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,073,000 after buying an additional 127,733 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 911.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,720,000 after buying an additional 82,727 shares in the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 580.0% in the 4th quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 4,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $469.33.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $470.11 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $460.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $418.44. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.31 billion, a PE ratio of 48.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The firm’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 research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.38%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total transaction of $246,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,237,525.72. The trade was a 16.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total transaction of $449,025.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,615 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.