Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to Hold

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Evercore set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.48.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $433.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.52. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $332.71 and a one year high of $497.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $439.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.28.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Christian Rothe sold 590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Matheus Bulho sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.14, for a total transaction of $168,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,261.38. This trade represents a 31.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,711 shares of company stock worth $1,164,880. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation, Inc (NYSE: ROK) is a global provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies. The company helps manufacturers and other industrial organizations improve productivity, safety, quality and operational efficiency by connecting control systems, equipment, software and data across production environments.

Its portfolio includes programmable logic controllers, industrial computers, sensors, motor control and drives, motion-control systems, safety equipment, human-machine interfaces and industrial networking technologies.