MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH Sells 2,802 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH cut its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 45.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,802 shares during the quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $868,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROK. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $469.33.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $461.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $305.44 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a PE ratio of 47.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $460.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $418.89.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president owned 134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,563.98. This represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. The trade was 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.