Blake Moret, President and CEO of Rockwell Automation (ROK), recently bought 3,500 shares. The buy increased his stake by 5 percent, and came to a total cost of $992,758.
This marks the first insider buy since May 2022. Otherwise, company insiders, particularly executives, have been regular sellers of shares. Most of those sales have occurred following the exercise of stock options.
Overall, Rockwell Automation insiders own 0.2 percent of shares.
The automation machinery manufacturer is down about 6 percent over the past year, underperforming the overall market.
Operations have been haphazard over the last year, with the company missing earnings two out of the last four quarters.
Rockwell’s earnings are down 44 percent, even with revenues inching higher by 4 percent.
On the plus side, Rockwell has a 13 percent profit margin, a reasonable level for a high-tech manufacturing company. And shares now trade at about 21 times forward earnings.
Action to take: Rockwell trades closer to its 52-week low than 52-week high, and will benefit from the long-term push for increased automation.
That makes shares a worthwhile buy now. At current prices, Rockwell pays shareholders a 1.8 percent dividend.
For traders, shares look oversold in the short-term and are ready to move higher.
The June $300 calls, last going for about $10.05 per share, could see mid-to-high double-digit returns in the coming months on a rebound.
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.