Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33,600.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,658,000 after acquiring an additional 294,337 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 9.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,908,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $545,474,000 after purchasing an additional 172,577 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,275,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 484,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,247,000 after purchasing an additional 127,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,294.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 127,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,560,000 after buying an additional 118,721 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total value of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,229,519.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total value of $140,260.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,229,519.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at $21,901,262.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,240 shares of company stock worth $4,891,324 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $273.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.11 and a 1 year high of $348.52. The company has a market capitalization of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $281.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.11.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $322.00 to $316.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.93.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.