Nykredit A S Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 55,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,607,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,129,376,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $615,596,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $352,572,000 after purchasing an additional 891,153 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at $394,905,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $300,589,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.8%

ROK stock opened at $428.58 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $332.71 and a 52 week high of $497.36. The company has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $454.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $428.14. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore set a $485.00 target price on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $469.14.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.96, for a total transaction of $199,390.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,958.32. This represents a 26.93% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,557 shares of company stock worth $1,098,256. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.