Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Buys New Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $735,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the first quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.6% in the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $449.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $332.71 and a 1 year high of $497.36. The company has a market capitalization of $49.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $463.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $426.45.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued 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 return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. The business’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. As a group, analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $445.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently 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 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 transaction of $449,025.08. Following the transaction, the vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. The trade was 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,649 shares of company stock worth $722,119. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.