Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Acquires Shares of 2,983 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,983 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,477,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at $57,001,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth about $47,962,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth about $451,000. Heron Bay Capital Management bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,574,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,175,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ROK. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $437.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $461.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a PEG 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.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The company 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%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, CFO Christian E. 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 value of $256,237.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331 over the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.