Man Group plc Invests $130.40 Million in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 263,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,395,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,129,376,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,943,844,000 after acquiring an additional 202,705 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. Zacks Research lowered Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $430.01 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $460.57 and its 200 day moving average is $426.97. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $332.71 and a 1-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. The company has a market cap of $47.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 51.73%.

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

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related 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 transaction of $173,612.27. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,314.70. This trade represents a 5.35% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.