Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $335.00 to $345.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.57% from the company’s current price.

ROK has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $298.51 on Wednesday. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $308.70. The company has a market capitalization of $33.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,857 shares of company stock valued at $10,678,037 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the third 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. 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.