Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded by BNP Paribas to Strong-Buy Rating

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $248.00 to $201.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.63.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK traded down $3.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $226.64. The stock had a trading volume of 78,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 864,658. The firm has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. 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 $215.00 and a 12 month high of $308.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.84.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total value of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,819.50. This trade represents a 25.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total value of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, 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 3,750 shares of company stock worth $1,075,923. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $284,177,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $181,588,000 after acquiring an additional 700,447 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% in 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. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,021,000 after purchasing an additional 651,116 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 432,934 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.