Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target Lowered to $280.00 at Barclays

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $285.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ROK. Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.42.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.4 %

ROK stock opened at $269.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. Rockwell Automation has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $308.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $279.76 and a 200 day moving average of $278.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Isaac Woods sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.03, for a total transaction of $248,810.28. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,219.71. This trade represents a 45.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. This trade represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,246,298 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $284,177,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 675,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,047,000 after acquiring an additional 674,698 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,021,000 after acquiring an additional 651,116 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 432,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after acquiring an additional 430,498 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.