Heron Bay Capital Management Acquires New Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Heron Bay Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 47,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,574,000. Rockwell Automation accounts for approximately 2.1% of Heron Bay Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ROK. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total value of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,314.70. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This trade represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,185 shares of company stock worth $529,331 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $448.00 to $487.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.19.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $437.50 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $332.71 and a 52-week high of $497.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $461.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.54.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.73%.

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.