Empowered Funds LLC Has $1.86 Million Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $304,000. Comerica Bank raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 60,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $912,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at $2,817,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $280.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 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 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $270.42 and a 200 day moving average of $267.03.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 60.39%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.