Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target Raised to $305.00

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective upped by Robert W. Baird from $290.00 to $305.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on ROK. Bank of America boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ROK opened at $294.95 on Tuesday. Rockwell Automation has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $273.95 and its 200 day moving average is $267.86.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,746 shares of company stock worth $8,560,594. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.