Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) CFO Christian Rothe Sells 590 Shares of Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) CFO Christian Rothe sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,314.70. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE:ROK traded up $6.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $437.50. The company had a trading volume of 558,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,416. The firm has a market cap of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $462.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $426.92. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $332.71 and a 52 week high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue 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. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ROK. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore set a $485.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $468.19.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at about $638,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.6% in the second quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 3,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $156,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $27,607,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.8% during the second quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 27,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,672,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

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.