Loop Capital Issues Positive Forecast for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Price

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price target hoisted by Loop Capital from $260.00 to $280.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ROK. UBS Group started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.55.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $288.58 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.00. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $308.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $32.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. The trade was a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,540 shares of company stock valued at $1,935,134. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,033,476,000 after buying an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,426,000 after acquiring an additional 51,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,095,000 after acquiring an additional 430,498 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.