North Star Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

North Star Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,877 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $23,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 75.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after buying an additional 3,513 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after buying an additional 4,295 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth $868,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $432.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $332.71 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The stock has a market cap of $48.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $459.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $427.29.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value 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 represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331 in the last ninety days. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.