Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $304.16.

ROK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $245,874.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. The trade was a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $498,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 408,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,682,000 after acquiring an additional 88,962 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE ROK opened at $288.08 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $307.71. The company has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $288.46 and its 200-day moving average is $274.92.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company 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 company earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.