Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management increased its Rockwell Automation stake by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 233,795 shares valued at about $91 million. Several other institutional investors also added modestly to their positions, and institutions now own 75.75% of the company.
• 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, and the company guided FY2026 EPS to $12.50-$13.10.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $449.16. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.38 per share, for an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 233,795 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 29,460 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 0.21% of Rockwell Automation worth $90,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,719 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,446 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 2,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eukles Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 9,596 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,734,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $445.00 target price on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $466.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Rockwell Automation from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $449.16.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.2%

ROK opened at $462.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $417.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $403.74. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $468.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.57.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 2,538 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $446.43, for a total transaction of $1,133,039.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,353,591.76. The trade was a 15.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 1,054 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $426.02, for a total transaction of $449,025.08. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,102.30. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,308 shares of company stock worth $5,339,812. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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