Morgan Stanley Boosts Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target to $345.00

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $335.00 to $345.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.51% from the stock’s previous close.

ROK has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $301.28. The stock had a trading volume of 402,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,025. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $286.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.47. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $308.70. The company has a market cap of $34.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $245,874.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $329,114.56. This represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,857 shares of company stock valued at $10,678,037. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,965,774,000 after buying an additional 81,079 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $717,865,000 after buying an additional 14,040 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,095,000 after buying an additional 430,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after buying an additional 13,744 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.