Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $26.06 Million Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,289 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $26,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, Director Patricia A. Watson sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total value of $474,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,680.55. This represents a 14.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,285 shares of company stock worth $1,003,904 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research 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 report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $430.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $458.33 and its 200 day moving average is $427.31. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $332.71 and a one year high of $497.36. The firm has a market cap of $47.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 51.73%.

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.