Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC cut its Rockwell Automation stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,297 shares and ending with 87,280 shares worth about $33.96 million.
• Rockwell Automation reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.30 beating estimates and revenue of $2.24 billion topping expectations; revenue rose 11.9% year over year.
• Management and analysts remain active around the stock: insiders sold shares during the quarter, while several firms raised price targets, and the consensus rating is now “Moderate Buy” with a $449.16 target.

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,297 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned 0.08% of Rockwell Automation worth $33,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,446 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the third quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 440 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.1% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 2,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the third quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 1,384 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE ROK opened at $448.86 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $392.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $396.18. The stock has a market cap of $49.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.56. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $298.70 and a 12-month high of $463.48. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 12,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.27, for a total value of $4,891,667.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,932,094. This trade represents a 49.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.37, for a total transaction of $812,599.45. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,217.32. This trade represents a 32.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,087 shares of company stock valued at $24,296,483. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ROK. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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