Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 3,522 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,744,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,001,000. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.9% in the first quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 22,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 169,457 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 197.9% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 13,905 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 9,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ROK. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $429.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.98. The stock has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $332.71 and a one year high of $497.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. 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, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,314.70. This trade represents a 5.35% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

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.