National Pension Service Decreases Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 143,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,052 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $55,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,613,000 after buying an additional 4,086 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,556,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 180.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after buying an additional 3,759 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 20.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 911.0% during 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. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ROK. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $449.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.58, for a total transaction of $269,748.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,994,786.46. This trade represents a 11.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total value of $1,133,039.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 11,713 shares of company stock valued at $5,066,717 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of ROK stock opened at $451.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $408.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $401.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.25 billion, a PE ratio of 46.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.56. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $305.44 and a fifty-two week high of $463.48.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.38%.

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.