L & S Advisors Inc Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,218,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 720.8% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 399,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,638,000 after buying an additional 350,662 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at about $73,908,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at about $63,632,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 213.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 357,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,263,000 after acquiring an additional 243,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1,950.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 202,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,360,000 after purchasing an additional 192,898 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $391.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $364.75.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $379.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $398.20. The stock has a market cap of $42.63 billion, a PE ratio of 44.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $353.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $335.45.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $3.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 12.03%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.200-12.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 72.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,272,903.52. This represents a 24.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 250 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $87,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,700. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,075 shares of company stock valued at $34,820,361. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.