Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) CFO Sells $256,237.00 in Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) CFO Christian Rothe sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:ROK opened at $437.50 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $332.71 and a 12-month high of $497.36.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.73%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the second quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.19.

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.