Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 132,074 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 48.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 406,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132,074 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.36% of Rockwell Automation worth $145,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $461.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $461.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $419.67. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $305.44 and a twelve month high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 57.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total transaction of $246,251.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,525.72. The trade was a 16.60% 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. Insiders sold a total of 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $469.33.

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.