Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded at Stephens

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $350.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $275.00. Stephens’ price target points to a potential upside of 26.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

ROK stock opened at $275.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $287.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $307.71.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,247,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $717,865,000 after buying an additional 14,040 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after acquiring an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,041,000 after acquiring an additional 67,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

About Rockwell Automation

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.