Caxton Associates LLP Makes New $1.70 Million Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,738 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,943,844,000 after acquiring an additional 202,705 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,136,801,000 after acquiring an additional 276,021 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $818,986,000 after acquiring an additional 24,719 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ROK opened at $462.55 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $305.44 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $461.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a PE ratio of 48.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,102.30. This trade represents a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at $2,043,282.87. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ROK shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, June 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $527.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $469.33.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.