Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Shares Sold by Madison Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management cut its Rockwell Automation stake by 46.5% in Q1, selling 9,978 shares and ending with 11,499 shares worth about $4.1 million.
• Insider selling has also been notable, with SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt and VP Terry L. Riesterer both trimming holdings; insiders sold 9,361 shares over the last three months.
• Rockwell Automation reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan plus a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share.

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 46.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,499 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,978 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $4,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% in the fourth 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 Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during 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 grew its holdings 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 worth $1,133,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,136,801,000 after acquiring an additional 276,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $818,986,000 after acquiring an additional 24,719 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROK. 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. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $365.00 to $378.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $495.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $469.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of Rockwell Automation 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 in the company, valued at approximately $60,563.98. The trade was a 96.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,361 shares of company stock valued at $4,189,886 over the last three months. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:ROK opened at $464.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $461.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $420.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 57.38%.

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

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.

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.