Covestor Ltd Grows Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 764.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 75.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $868,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. Evercore raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $380.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $466.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $449.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total transaction of $1,818,727.28. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,563.98. This represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total transaction of $246,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,525.72. This trade represents a 16.60% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 59,087 shares of company stock valued at $24,296,483. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $422.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.95, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $395.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $397.09. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $298.70 and a 1 year high of $463.48.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 57.38%.

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.