Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Invests $4.71 Million in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 13,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,706,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at $31,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $471.20 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $464.60 and its 200 day moving average is $423.80.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 target price on the stock. Argus boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $469.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total transaction of $449,025.08. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $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.