Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Given New $440.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $435.00 to $440.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

ROK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $329.00 to $448.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.44.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $416.92 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $393.74 and its 200-day moving average is $363.60. The company has a market cap of $46.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.43, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.14. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $215.00 and a 52-week high of $420.19.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $3.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 32.69% and a net margin of 10.42%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.200-12.200 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 72.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 1,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.06, for a total transaction of $682,697.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,905,132. This represents a 12.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.07, for a total transaction of $410,111.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,420,863.47. This represents a 14.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 88,053 shares of company stock valued at $34,718,919 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 207,448 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,793,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,675,446,000 after purchasing an additional 42,809 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,874,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $950,744,000 after purchasing an additional 48,105 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,423,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $497,538,000 after purchasing an additional 49,477 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,235,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $431,945,000 after purchasing an additional 132,637 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company’s product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.