Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Rating Raised to “Hold” at Wells Fargo & Company

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $485.00 target price on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $465.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $468.48.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $433.95 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $332.71 and a one year high of $497.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.67, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $439.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $431.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.11. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 39.83% and a net margin of 13.39%.The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.300 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Isaac Woods sold 154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.62, for a total transaction of $66,623.48. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $803,807.96. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Christian E. Rothe sold 590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.30, for a total transaction of $256,237.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,314.70. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,711 shares of company stock worth $1,164,880. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Flputnam Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,001,000. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 22,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,967,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 54.2% during the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 36,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,995,000 after buying an additional 12,727 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 274,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,965,000 after buying an additional 44,944 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 26,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,164,000 after buying an additional 15,496 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 (NYSE: ROK) is a global provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies. The company helps manufacturers and other industrial organizations improve productivity, safety, quality and operational efficiency by connecting control systems, equipment, software and data across production environments.

Its portfolio includes programmable logic controllers, industrial computers, sensors, motor control and drives, motion-control systems, safety equipment, human-machine interfaces and industrial networking technologies.