Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Shares Acquired by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 156.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,434 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,144 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $3,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total value of $1,133,039.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. The trade was a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886 over the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 2.5%

ROK opened at $460.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $460.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $417.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. HSBC upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock 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 given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.33.

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.