Barclays Lowers Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target to $285.00

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Barclays from $290.00 to $285.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.99% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ROK. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.89.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $279.44 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $307.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $31.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $273.82.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $304,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.