Bellwether Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its Rockwell Automation stake by 71.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 4,583 shares to reach 10,985 shares valued at about $4.27 million.
• Rockwell Automation reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.30 versus expectations of $2.88 and revenue of $2.24 billion, while also raising FY2026 guidance to 12.50-13.10 EPS.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, and analysts remain generally constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $449.16.

Bellwether Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 71.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,985 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,583 shares during the quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC's holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $4,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,527,249,000 after acquiring an additional 114,469 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,793,425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,675,446,000 after acquiring an additional 42,809 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,423,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $497,538,000 after acquiring an additional 49,477 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 12.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,235,788 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $431,945,000 after acquiring an additional 132,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 14.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 989,429 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $345,835,000 after acquiring an additional 122,437 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $456.45 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $305.44 and a fifty-two week high of $463.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $403.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $400.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.79 billion, a PE ratio of 47.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.56.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.38%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total transaction of $1,818,727.28. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 134 shares of the company's stock, valued at $60,563.98. This trade represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.50, for a total value of $484,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $671,925. This represents a 41.89% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 26,178 shares of company stock worth $10,997,512 over the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ROK. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. HSBC upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Rockwell Automation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $449.16.

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.

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