Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $305.08.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROK. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $290.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $322.00 to $316.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 528 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.78, for a total value of $133,995.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,718 shares in the company, valued at $943,554.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 248 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.37, for a total value of $63,579.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,246 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,547.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 528 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.78, for a total value of $133,995.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $943,554.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,199 shares of company stock worth $572,750. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 676.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,984,000 after purchasing an additional 28,016 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 85,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,093 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 3,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.5 %

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $266.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $265.87 and a 200 day moving average of $280.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 1.37. Rockwell Automation has a 12-month low of $249.00 and a 12-month high of $348.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 34.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.88%.

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.