Rockwell Automation
ROK on NYSE. Rockwell Automation sells factory automation equipment and software to manufacturers. Market value $50.5bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to September 2025.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
See cheaper Industrials stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $3.00 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 26.0 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 21 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 100 of 100. Price score: 37 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$450.74 a share, 35% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $332.71 to $497.36.
Dividend: 1.2% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $7.0bn | $7.8bn | $9.1bn | $8.3bn | $8.3bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 23.2% | 15.4% | 21.3% | 19.3% | 20.4% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 1.67 | 1.41 | 0.83 | 1.04 | 0.88 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.12bn | 0.11bn | 0.11bn | 0.11bn | 0.11bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)9 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.88× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 5.7% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 4% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $2.3 billion last quarter, up 8% on a year ago.
- Profit: $408 million, up 38% on a year ago.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $1.5 billion, up from $1.3 billion.
- 1% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $2.8 billion more than cash, down from $3 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $2.0bn |
| December 2024 | $1.9bn |
| March 2025 | $2.0bn |
| June 2025 | $2.1bn |
| September 2025 | $2.3bn |
| December 2025 | $2.1bn |
| March 2026 | $2.2bn |
| June 2026 | $2.3bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $240m |
| December 2024 | $184m |
| March 2025 | $252m |
| June 2025 | $295m |
| September 2025 | $138m |
| December 2025 | $305m |
| March 2026 | $350m |
| June 2026 | $408m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 5 November 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 12 November 2025
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 3 November 2026
Who owns it
6 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 6 last quarter. 1,534 funds in all.
- Markel GroupTom Gayner
- Value
- $77m
- Share of fund
- 0.6%
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $55m
- Share of fund
- 0.5%
- Horizon KineticsMurray Stahl
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $128m | 1.2% | Cut |
| Markel GroupTom Gayner | $77m | 0.6% | |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $55m | 0.5% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $50m | 0.1% | Added |
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $5m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Horizon KineticsMurray Stahl | $2m | <0.1% |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$6.1bnAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$3.6bn
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$2.9bn
- State Street$2.6bnAdded
- Geode Capital Management$1.5bnAdded
- Morgan Stanley$1.5bnAdded
- JPMorgan Chase$1.4bnAdded
- UBS Group AG$1.1bn
- Goldman Sachs Group$957m
- Invesco$901mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- BlackRock, Inc.Passive investor9.1%+1.5 ptsSince 31 March 2026
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor5.2%Since 31 March 2026
- T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 June 2025
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc. Passive investor | 9.1%+1.5 pts | 31 March 2026 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 5.2% | 31 March 2026 | |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 June 2025 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 14 sold $65m, $63m of it under preset trading plans.
- Woods IsaacVice President and TreasurerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 8 September 2026
- Shares
- 154
- Price
- $432.62
- Value
- $66,624
- Bulho Matheus De A G VieraSVP Software and ControlSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 2 September 2026
- Shares
- 400
- Price
- $420.14
- Value
- $168,056
- Bulho Matheus De A G VieraSVP Software and ControlSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 31 August 2026
- Shares
- 467
- Price
- $426.96
- Value
- $199,390
- Watson Patricia ADirectorSold
- Date
- 27 August 2026
- Shares
- 1,100
- Price
- $431.43
- Value
- $474,569
- Rothe Christian ESr. VP and CFOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 20 August 2026
- Shares
- 590
- Price
- $434.30
- Value
- $256,237
- Riesterer Terry L.Vice President and ControllerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 16 July 2026
- Shares
- 281
- Price
- $453.24
- Value
- $127,359
- Fordenwalt Matthew W.SVP Lifecycle ServicesSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 4 June 2026
- Shares
- 377
- Price
- $460.51
- Value
- $173,612
- Fordenwalt Matthew W.SVP Lifecycle ServicesSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 2 June 2026
- Shares
- 218
- Price
- $456.34
- Value
- $99,482
- MILLER JOHN MVP and Chief IP CounselSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 20 May 2026
- Shares
- 1,054
- Price
- $426.02
- Value
- $449,025
- Riesterer Terry L.Vice President and ControllerSold
- Date
- 7 May 2026
- Shares
- 4,024
- Price
- $451.97
- Value
- $2m
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2026 | Woods Isaac Vice President and Treasurer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 154 | $432.62 | $66,624 |
| 2 September 2026 | Bulho Matheus De A G Viera SVP Software and Control | Sold under a preset trading plan | 400 | $420.14 | $168,056 |
| 31 August 2026 | Bulho Matheus De A G Viera SVP Software and Control | Sold under a preset trading plan | 467 | $426.96 | $199,390 |
| 27 August 2026 | Watson Patricia A Director | Sold | 1,100 | $431.43 | $474,569 |
| 20 August 2026 | Rothe Christian E Sr. VP and CFO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 590 | $434.30 | $256,237 |
| 16 July 2026 | Riesterer Terry L. Vice President and Controller | Sold under a preset trading plan | 281 | $453.24 | $127,359 |
| 4 June 2026 | Fordenwalt Matthew W. SVP Lifecycle Services | Sold under a preset trading plan | 377 | $460.51 | $173,612 |
| 2 June 2026 | Fordenwalt Matthew W. SVP Lifecycle Services | Sold under a preset trading plan | 218 | $456.34 | $99,482 |
| 20 May 2026 | MILLER JOHN M VP and Chief IP Counsel | Sold under a preset trading plan | 1,054 | $426.02 | $449,025 |
| 7 May 2026 | Riesterer Terry L. Vice President and Controller | Sold | 4,024 | $451.97 | $2m |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 26.0× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.