Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $8.77 Million Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,720 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,773,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore set a $485.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $429.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $461.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $332.71 and a fifty-two week high of $497.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership 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.