Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New $147.56 Million Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 298,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,557,000. Rockwell Automation accounts for about 1.1% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.67.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of ROK stock opened at $433.41 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $332.71 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $463.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president 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 available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.