Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Cut to Hold at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas cut shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ROK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of 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. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $298.51 on Tuesday. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $308.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,857 shares of company stock valued at $10,678,037 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,960,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 35,382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1,707.7% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 17.8% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 550 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.