Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Price

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price hoisted by Oppenheimer from $288.00 to $300.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

ROK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.21.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK stock traded down $4.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $272.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,067,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 625,232. Rockwell Automation has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $266.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.69. The firm has a market cap of $30.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized 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 buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the period. 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.