Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 19,197 Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Clarkston Capital Partners disclosed a new stake in Rockwell Automation, buying 19,197 shares valued at about $7.47 million in the fourth quarter.
• Rockwell Automation reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.30 and revenue of $2.24 billion, both beating analyst expectations. The company also lifted its FY2026 EPS guidance to 12.50–13.10.
• The company announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan and a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $451.75.

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 19,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $7,469,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $615,596,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $352,572,000 after acquiring an additional 891,153 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 122.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 819,708 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $286,522,000 after acquiring an additional 451,038 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $156,017,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,666.2% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 321,722 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,451,000 after acquiring an additional 303,506 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Rockwell Automation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $380.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $451.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $60,563.98. This represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 12,308 shares of company stock valued at $5,339,812 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE ROK opened at $458.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $428.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.92. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $305.44 and a one year high of $468.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm's 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. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.38%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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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