Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,297 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $33,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $352,572,000 after purchasing an additional 891,153 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 122.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 819,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $286,522,000 after buying an additional 451,038 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,666.2% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 321,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,451,000 after acquiring an additional 303,506 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 126.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 321,964 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,536,000 after acquiring an additional 179,606 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 167.2% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 260,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,637,000 after acquiring an additional 162,805 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $449.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at $6,353,591.76. This trade represents a 15.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total transaction of $246,251.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,237,525.72. This trade represents a 16.60% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 59,087 shares of company stock valued at $24,296,483. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $448.86 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $392.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $396.18. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $298.70 and a 52-week high of $463.48. The firm has a market cap of $49.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.56. 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:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.