Renaissance Group LLC Sells 1,266 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Renaissance Group LLC lowered its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 93,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the quarter. Rockwell Automation makes up approximately 1.5% of Renaissance Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $36,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $615,596,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $352,572,000 after acquiring an additional 891,153 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 122.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 819,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $286,522,000 after purchasing an additional 451,038 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $156,017,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,666.2% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 321,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,451,000 after purchasing an additional 303,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total transaction of $449,025.08. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812 in the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROK. KeyCorp increased 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $466.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $451.75.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $440.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $424.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $406.00. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $305.44 and a 1 year high of $468.11.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.38%.

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.