Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Rockwell Automation’s Q3 2028 earnings at $4.02 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $501.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $470.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $445.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $462.82.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of ROK opened at $471.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $305.44 and a 1-year high of $497.36. The stock has a market cap of $52.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $414.32.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 12.36%.Rockwell Automation’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 13.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 4,024 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.97, for a total value of $1,818,727.28. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 134 shares in the company, valued at $60,563.98. This trade represents a 96.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 377 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.51, for a total transaction of $173,612.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,043,282.87. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 12,009 shares of company stock valued at $5,232,471 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $1,556,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 744,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,073,000 after acquiring an additional 127,733 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 911.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,720,000 after acquiring an additional 82,727 shares in the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 580.0% during the 4th quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 4,710 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.