Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Rating Increased to Hold at UBS Group

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ROK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.13.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $286.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $267.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after acquiring an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after acquiring an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during 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.