The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 91,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,022 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.08% of Rockwell Automation worth $32,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $469.33.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.58, for a total value of $269,748.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,994,786.46. This trade represents a 11.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,102.30. This trade represents a 15.80% 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. Insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886 in the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of ROK stock opened at $481.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.03, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $465.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.20. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $305.44 and a 1 year high of $497.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.38%.

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