Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 9,383 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 46.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,383 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $14,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the second quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $469.14.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $425.07 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $332.71 and a 12-month high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $455.75 and a 200-day moving average of $427.89.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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. Also, Director Patricia A. Watson sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total transaction of $474,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,754,680.55. This trade represents a 14.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,557 shares of company stock worth $1,098,256 in the last 90 days. 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.