Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $960,000 Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $960,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.7% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $777,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 796.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,342,000 after purchasing an additional 86,500 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus upgraded Rockwell Automation to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.92, for a total value of $92,039.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $827,151.36. This trade represents a 10.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.00, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,728. This represents a 39.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 88,053 shares of company stock worth $34,718,919. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $420.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $397.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $366.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $425.90.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 10.42%.Rockwell Automation’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.200-12.200 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.06%.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.