Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 1,238 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,117 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROK. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $304.16.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total value of $82,620.27. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $856,111.83. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $278.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 466,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,279. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $304.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $31.45 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $288.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company's revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.