Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 32,332 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROKFree Report) by 24.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,332 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $35,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the 4th 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 period. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $457.50.

Read Our Latest Report on Rockwell Automation

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 1,200 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $480,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,774,800. The trade was a 21.29% 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. Insiders have sold 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812 over the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $476.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.50, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $445.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $412.11. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $305.44 and a twelve month high of $486.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROKGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Rockwell Automation

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Rockwell Automation Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK)

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