Man Group plc Acquires 20,760 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 321,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,760 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $125,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $454.05.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total value of $246,251.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,237,525.72. This represents a 16.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,308 shares of company stock valued at $5,339,812. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $459.20 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $434.40 and a 200 day moving average of $408.56. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $305.44 and a 12 month high of $474.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.