Amundi Raises Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Rockwell Automation stake by 13.5% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 998,374 shares valued at approximately $358.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.75% of the company.
• Rockwell Automation reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.30 and revenue of $2.24 billion; revenue rose 11.9% year over year. Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $469.33.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share and approved a $1 billion share-repurchase program, allowing buybacks of up to 2% of outstanding shares.

Amundi raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 998,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 118,474 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.90% of Rockwell Automation worth $358,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,943,844,000 after acquiring an additional 202,705 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,136,801,000 after acquiring an additional 276,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $818,986,000 after acquiring an additional 24,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $458.67 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $463.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.37. The stock has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a PE ratio of 47.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 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.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 EPS 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. 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 has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $501.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $445.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $469.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 550 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.73, for a total value of $246,251.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,237,525.72. The trade was a 16.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. The trade was a 15.13% 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 9,361 shares of company stock worth $4,189,886 in the last 90 days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Rockwell Automation

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ROK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.