Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $290.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $255.00. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 1.82% from the stock’s previous close.

ROK has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK stock opened at $295.38 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,000. This represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,070 shares of company stock worth $10,142,408. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.