Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target Raised to $305.00 at Robert W. Baird

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective increased by Robert W. Baird from $290.00 to $305.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 4.00% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ROK. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK traded down $5.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $293.27. 313,849 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 892,934. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.32. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $312.76. The stock has a market cap of $33.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth approximately $681,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 60,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, LBP AM SA raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 122.2% during the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 3,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.