Man Group plc Purchases Shares of 263,381 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Man Group plc acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 263,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,395,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.24% of Rockwell Automation at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $430.01 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $460.57 and its 200 day moving average is $426.97. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $332.71 and a fifty-two week high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.75 billion, a PE ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.Rockwell Automation’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,185 shares of company stock valued at $529,331. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $468.19.

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.