Candriam S.C.A. Buys 1,311 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 182,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $65,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.2%

ROK opened at $472.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $458.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $305.44 and a fifty-two week high of $497.36. The company has a market cap of $52.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.54. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 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. 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 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ROK shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $466.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total value of $1,133,039.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at $6,353,591.76. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total transaction of $449,025.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their position. 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 a total of 10,561 shares of company stock worth $4,669,886 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.