Empirical Asset Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $743,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $433.41 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $332.71 and a 52 week high of $497.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $463.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $426.80. The stock has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.73%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ROK. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore set a $485.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.67.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total value of $173,612.27. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,043,282.87. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company’s product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.