Christian Rothe, CFO of Rockwell Automation (ROK), recently bought 7,273 shares. The buy came to a total cost of $2,000,904, and is a new position for the executive.
This is only the second insider buy at the company over the past two years, following a 3,500 share buy form the company CEO in February for $992,758. Otherwise, insiders have largely been sellers of shares, usually following the exercise of stock options.
Overall, Rockwell insiders own 0.2% of shares.
The industrial automation designer and manufacturer is up 2% over the past year, far underperforming the overall stock market. However, the company has fared worse operationally, with both earnings and revenues down by over 20%.
Automation technology has taken a backseat to the efficiencies that can be utilized by AI tools, but it’s likely that Rockwell will be able to adapt and add more high-margin software tools in addition to its hardware.
Action to take: Shares have been rangebound over the past year, but could be consolidating to break higher once it breaks out of its range. Investors may want to build a starting position now, and use any market pullbacks to add to their holdings.
At current prices, Rockwell also pays a 1.9% dividend.
For traders, the February 2025 $320 calls, last trading for about $5.20, could see mid-to-high double-digit returns on a breakout in the weeks ahead.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.
