The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its Rockwell Automation stake by 13.5% in the second quarter, selling 12,286 shares and retaining 78,774 shares valued at approximately $39 million.
• Rockwell reported quarterly results above expectations, with EPS of $3.49 and revenue of $2.31 billion; revenue increased 7.9% year over year. The company also authorized a $1 billion share-repurchase program.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $469.14, while several insiders sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,774 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,286 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Rockwell Automation worth $38,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 75.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,513 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 142.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,295 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 233.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $868,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.96, for a total transaction of $199,390.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $540,958.32. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 154 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.62, for a total value of $66,623.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,858 shares in the company, valued at $803,807.96. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,164,880. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $428.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $332.71 and a 1 year high of $497.36. The firm's 50-day moving average is $448.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $429.36. The stock has a market cap of $47.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.52.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.39% and a return on equity of 39.83%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $469.14.

Rockwell Automation Profile

Rockwell Automation, Inc NYSE: ROK is a global provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies. The company helps manufacturers and other industrial organizations improve productivity, safety, quality and operational efficiency by connecting control systems, equipment, software and data across production environments.

Its portfolio includes programmable logic controllers, industrial computers, sensors, motor control and drives, motion-control systems, safety equipment, human-machine interfaces and industrial networking technologies.

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