Grandfield & Dodd LLC Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Grandfield & Dodd LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,306,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $5,527,249,000 after acquiring an additional 114,469 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth approximately $6,129,376,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,943,844,000 after purchasing an additional 202,705 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.4% in 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 in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of ROK opened at $445.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $463.60 and its 200 day moving average is $426.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $332.71 and a fifty-two week high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.73%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.67.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total transaction of $449,025.08. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 1,649 shares of company stock worth $722,119 over the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.