Insider Selling: Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) SVP Sells $107,341.00 in Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Matheus De Viera Bulho sold 299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.00, for a total transaction of $107,341.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,984 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,256. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.1%

ROK opened at $364.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $387.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.47. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.00 and a fifty-two week high of $438.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.29. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.400-12.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ROK. Citigroup increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $439.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $460.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,527,249,000 after acquiring an additional 114,469 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,943,844,000 after acquiring an additional 202,705 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,136,801,000 after purchasing an additional 276,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $818,986,000 after purchasing an additional 24,719 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.