43,036 Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Purchased by Grandfield & Dodd LLC

Grandfield & Dodd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 43,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,306,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,102.30. This trade represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. This trade represents 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. Insiders sold 1,649 shares of company stock worth $722,119 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.67.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $445.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.67. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $332.71 and a one year high of $497.36.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

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.