Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 233,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 29,460 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $90,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.1% in the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,086 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,556,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 180.5% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,759 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 744,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,073,000 after purchasing an additional 127,733 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 911.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,720,000 after purchasing an additional 82,727 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $462.62 on Friday. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $417.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $403.74. The company has a market cap of $51.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.09, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.57. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $305.44 and a 12 month high of $468.11.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm 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 revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 57.38%.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at $6,353,591.76. This represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,102.30. This represents a 15.80% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,308 shares of company stock valued at $5,339,812. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $466.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $449.16.

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.