Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $357.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $392.00 price target (up from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.47.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of ROK opened at $329.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $337.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.58. Rockwell Automation has a twelve month low of $215.00 and a twelve month high of $360.92. The stock has a market cap of $37.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.15. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 12.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.32, for a total value of $118,454.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,325,838.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.31, for a total value of $96,914.07. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,790.21. This represents a 14.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,818 shares of company stock valued at $1,944,708 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,058,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,669,781,000 after purchasing an additional 207,448 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 432,934 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $950,744,000 after purchasing an additional 48,105 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 11.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $470,091,000 after purchasing an additional 191,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,579,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $408,229,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.