Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) CFO Christian Rothe Sells 590 Shares of Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) CFO Christian Rothe sold 590 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $256,237.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 Stock Performance

ROK stock opened at $437.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $332.71 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $461.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $427.00.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.19.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth approximately $6,129,376,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $615,596,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $352,572,000 after acquiring an additional 891,153 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth $394,905,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth $300,589,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.