Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $468.00

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $468.00.

ROK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $520.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Zacks Research cut Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $500.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Rockwell Automation from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $510.00 to $485.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.62, for a total value of $66,623.48. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,807.96. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, Director Patricia A. Watson sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.43, for a total transaction of $474,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,680.55. This trade represents a 14.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,164,880. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. now owns 631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.4% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.5% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 176,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,958,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at $131,000. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth $438,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $446.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $431.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $427.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $347.53 and a 12-month high of $497.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 51.73%.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc (NYSE: ROK) is a global provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies. The company helps manufacturers and industrial organizations improve productivity, safety, quality and operational efficiency through connected hardware, software and services.

Its product portfolio includes industrial control systems, programmable logic controllers, motor control and sensing equipment, industrial computers, safety products, networking technologies and power-control solutions.