Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $254,000 Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ROK opened at $286.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.83. The company has a market capitalization of $32.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ROK. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation 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.