Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 114,469 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Vanguard boosted its stake in Rockwell by 0.8% in Q4, adding 114,469 shares to hold 14,206,311 shares — about 12.65% of the company valued at $5.527 billion.
• Rockwell beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.75 (vs. $2.46 consensus) and revenue of $2.11 billion (up 11.9% YoY), and issued FY2026 guidance of $11.40–$12.20 EPS (analysts forecast ~12.14).
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.38 (annualized $5.52, yield 1.4%, ex-dividend May 18), while insiders sold roughly 51,375 shares (about $20.8 million) over the past three months.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.65% of Rockwell Automation worth $5,527,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 109.5% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 88 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 120 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.4%

ROK stock opened at $406.77 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $382.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $388.53. The company has a market capitalization of $45.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $240.13 and a 12 month high of $438.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.400-12.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is 63.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 14,465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.01, for a total value of $5,930,794.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,232 shares in the company, valued at $5,835,262.32. The trade was a 50.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.50, for a total transaction of $484,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $671,925. This represents a 41.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,375 shares of company stock worth $20,828,717. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on ROK shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $400.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $410.00 to $360.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $406.67.

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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