7,314 Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Purchased by Regents Gate Capital LLP

Key Points

• Regents Gate Capital LLP disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Rockwell Automation, buying 7,314 shares valued at about $2.63 million.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally positive on ROK, with several firms raising price targets; MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target of $469.33.
• Rockwell Automation beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, posted 11.9% year-over-year revenue growth, and authorized a $1 billion share buyback while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share.

Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,314 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,625,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $1,556,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 744,814 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $291,073,000 after acquiring an additional 127,733 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 911.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,720,000 after acquiring an additional 82,727 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 580.0% during the fourth quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 4,710 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $440.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $404.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $469.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total value of $246,251.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,237,525.72. This trade represents a 16.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total value of $449,025.08. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. This represents a 15.80% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.5%

ROK stock opened at $461.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $305.44 and a 52 week high of $497.36. The company's 50-day moving average price is $461.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $419.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm'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. On average, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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