Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $431.59 and last traded at $429.7060, with a volume of 785 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $429.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer cut Rockwell Automation from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $410.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $329.00 to $448.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $410.12.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $405.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $48.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 61,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.56, for a total value of $24,159,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,841,311.88. This represents a 42.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 1,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.03, for a total transaction of $557,615.61. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 4,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,763.42. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 87,231 shares of company stock valued at $34,418,889 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $281,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth about $777,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 796.0% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,342,000 after purchasing an additional 86,500 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 617,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $215,750,000 after purchasing an additional 157,601 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.