Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Director Patricia Watson Sells 1,100 Shares of Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Director Patricia Watson sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total value of $474,573.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,680.55. This trade represents a 14.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK traded down $2.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $430.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 566,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,190. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $332.71 and a twelve month high of $497.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $47.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $459.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.29.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROK. KeyCorp raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $485.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.9% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 176,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,216 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $6,119,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 50,536.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,037,850 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,605,459,000 after purchasing an additional 83,871,888 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 125.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,845,000 after acquiring an additional 3,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 4.0% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

About Rockwell Automation

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.