Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $307.42.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROK. KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total transaction of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,819.50. The trade was a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,246,298. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,965,774,000 after buying an additional 81,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,033,476,000 after acquiring an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 11,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 51,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,095,000 after purchasing an additional 430,498 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $227.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $218.48 and a 12-month high of $308.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $274.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $278.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.26%.

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.