North Star Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

North Star Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,877 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $23,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ROK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $468.19.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were 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 represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.1%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $432.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $459.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $427.29. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $332.71 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The company has a market capitalization of $48.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.