Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.5%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $457.79 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROK. Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 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, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total transaction of $1,818,727.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,563.98. The trade was a 96.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886 in the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.