2,656 Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Acquired by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $960,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 468.8% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 91 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $39,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 48.7% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $439.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $392.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.69.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $420.78 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.52. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $425.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $397.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $366.56.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.19 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 10.42%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.200-12.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.06%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.48, for a total transaction of $58,762.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,803.76. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.05, for a total value of $323,248.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,355,208.90. This represents a 12.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 88,053 shares of company stock worth $34,718,919. 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.