Raiffeisen Bank International AG Lowers Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Raiffeisen Bank International AG decreased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,751 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned approximately 0.09% of Rockwell Automation worth $50,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in 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. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore set a $485.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $469.14.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, Director Patricia A. Watson sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total transaction of $474,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,385 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,680.55. This trade represents a 14.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 467 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.96, for a total transaction of $199,390.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $540,958.32. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,557 shares of company stock valued at $1,098,256. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $428.58 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $332.71 and a twelve month high of $497.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $454.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $428.14. The firm has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.17, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.52.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Rockwell Automation

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.