Wells Fargo & Company Trims Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Target Price to $312.00

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $320.00 to $312.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an underweight rating and issued a $254.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.1 %

Rockwell Automation stock traded down $3.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $270.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,515,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,059. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $252.11 and a 1-year high of $348.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.11. The stock has a market cap of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Robert L. Buttermore sold 201 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $55,777.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $641,302.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,070. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert L. Buttermore sold 201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.50, for a total transaction of $55,777.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,311 shares in the company, valued at $641,302.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,240 shares of company stock valued at $4,891,324 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ROK. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. 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.