Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 16.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,547 shares during the quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $8,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ROK. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 142.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 233.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $868,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. Evercore boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. HSBC boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $469.33.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.5%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $461.50 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $305.44 and a twelve month high of $497.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $461.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $419.67. The company has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total value of $1,818,727.28. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 134 shares in the company, valued at $60,563.98. This represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.