Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $439.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $392.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.44.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:ROK traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $414.78. 212,017 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 632,549. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $393.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.14. Rockwell Automation has a twelve month low of $215.00 and a twelve month high of $420.18. The company has a market cap of $46.57 billion, a PE ratio of 54.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 1,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 1,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.06, for a total transaction of $682,697.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,905,132. The trade was a 12.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 88,053 shares of company stock valued at $34,718,919 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.7% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $294,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 796.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 97,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,342,000 after buying an additional 86,500 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth about $777,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Rockwell Automation

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.