Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 2,289 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,289 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $26,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Evercore set a $485.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $430.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.31. The stock has a market cap of $47.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $332.71 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, Director Patricia A. Watson sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total value of $474,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,680.55. The trade was a 14.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 2,285 shares of company stock worth $1,003,904 in the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.