EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 96,877 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 96,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,962,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $437.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $332.71 and a 12-month high of $497.36. The company has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $461.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.00.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.