Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) SVP Matthew Fordenwalt Sells 377 Shares

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Matthew Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK opened at $462.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $417.12 and a 200-day moving average of $403.74. The company has a market capitalization of $51.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.09, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.57. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $468.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 57.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $449.16.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,086 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,556,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 180.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 744,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,073,000 after acquiring an additional 127,733 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 911.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,720,000 after acquiring an additional 82,727 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.