Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Given New $304.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price lowered by Robert W. Baird from $310.00 to $304.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on ROK. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an underweight rating and set a $254.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $290.00 price target (down previously from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $307.93.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $269.71 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation has a twelve month low of $252.11 and a twelve month high of $348.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $281.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.11.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Robert L. Buttermore sold 201 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $55,777.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $641,302.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Robert L. Buttermore sold 201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total value of $55,777.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $641,302.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,519.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,240 shares of company stock worth $4,891,324 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,752,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $786,778,000 after purchasing an additional 70,272 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,908,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $545,474,000 after acquiring an additional 172,577 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,518,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,181,000 after acquiring an additional 3,845 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,399,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $399,954,000 after acquiring an additional 43,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 955,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $278,387,000 after purchasing an additional 54,948 shares in the last quarter. 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.