Wells Fargo & Company Trims Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Target Price to $293.00

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $305.00 to $293.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $290.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Monday, July 8th. They set a neutral rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $282.07.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $258.15. 625,371 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 966,854. Rockwell Automation has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $317.74. The stock has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 34.83%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.01 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 48.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 528 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.78, for a total transaction of $133,995.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,554.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.78, for a total transaction of $133,995.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,554.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.37, for a total value of $63,579.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,547.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,199 shares of company stock valued at $572,750. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after buying an additional 700,745 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth approximately $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 82.4% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,461,000 after acquiring an additional 388,400 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.