Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.05 Million Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,527,249,000 after acquiring an additional 114,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,943,844,000 after purchasing an additional 202,705 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,133,397,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,136,801,000 after purchasing an additional 276,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $818,986,000 after purchasing an additional 24,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. This trade 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 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $495.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $305.44 and a fifty-two week high of $497.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $448.30 and a 200-day moving average of $413.35. The stock has a market cap of $55.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.57.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.50.

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.