Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,412,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commerce Bank purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,383,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,711,000. W1M Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth $427,000. Iyo Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $10,570,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth approximately $1,477,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,314.70. This trade 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $437.50 on Monday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $332.71 and a 12-month high of $497.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $426.98.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.19.

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.