Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $271.49 Million Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 756,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,053 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $271,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 27.3% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 11,674 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.7% in the first quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at approximately $988,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 54.2% in the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 36,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,995,000 after acquiring an additional 12,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ROK. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 price objective for the company. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.58, for a total transaction of $269,748.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,994,786.46. This represents a 11.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $462.55 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $461.94 and a 200-day moving average of $422.16. The company has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $305.44 and a 52 week high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.