Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases 9,919 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 223.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $5,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth $868,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.7%

NYSE ROK opened at $458.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $305.44 and a 52 week high of $497.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $463.99 and a 200-day moving average of $423.37.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.38%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Evercore lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.33.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,563.98. The trade was a 96.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at $6,353,591.76. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.