Legal & General Group Plc Has $246.20 Million Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Legal & General increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.1% to 704,363 shares (about 0.63%), a position valued at approximately $246.2 million, while institutional investors own roughly 75.75% of the company.
• Earnings beat and guidance: Rockwell reported $2.75 EPS (vs. $2.46 est.) and revenue of $2.11B, set FY2026 guidance of 11.400–12.200 EPS, and the stock carries a Wall Street consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $418.33 average price target after multiple analyst upgrades.
• Insider selling: Company insiders sold 49,228 shares worth about $19.99 million over the last quarter (insiders now own 0.76% of shares), which may warrant investor attention despite institutional buying and analyst optimism.

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 704,363 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,498 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.63% of Rockwell Automation worth $246,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 61,834 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,613,000 after buying an additional 4,086 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 180.5% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,042,000 after buying an additional 3,759 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at about $777,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 796.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,342,000 after acquiring an additional 86,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $470.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $448.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $410.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $418.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 17,407 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.61, for a total value of $7,043,046.27. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,340,877.54. This trade represents a 84.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.21, for a total value of $485,052.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,479.77. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 49,228 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,391 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $358.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $404.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $380.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.00 and a 12-month high of $438.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.53.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The company's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.400-12.200 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

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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