Covea Finance Has $24.01 Million Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Covea Finance lowered its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $24,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,613,000 after buying an additional 4,086 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 180.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $777,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 796.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,342,000 after acquiring an additional 86,500 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of ROK opened at $355.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $398.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $380.77. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.00 and a 12 month high of $438.72. The company has a market capitalization of $39.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.29. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.92% and a net margin of 11.56%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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, analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 14,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.01, for a total value of $5,930,794.65. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,835,262.32. The trade was a 50.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 17,407 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.61, for a total transaction of $7,043,046.27. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,340,877.54. This represents a 84.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,228 shares of company stock worth $19,992,391. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Oppenheimer cut Rockwell Automation from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, December 15th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $440.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $430.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $418.33.

Rockwell Automation 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.