Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Increases Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 0.06% of Rockwell Automation worth $25,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 75.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $868,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $454.05.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ROK opened at $478.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $439.82 and a 200 day moving average of $410.34. The company has a market cap of $53.20 billion, a PE ratio of 49.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.57. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $305.44 and a 52-week high of $479.59.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total transaction of $1,818,727.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 134 shares in the company, valued at $60,563.98. The trade was a 96.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812 in the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation 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.