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

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $485.00 price target on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $514.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $555.00 to $536.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $468.48.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $433.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $439.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $431.28. Rockwell Automation has a 12 month low of $332.71 and a 12 month high of $497.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matheus Bulho sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $426.96, for a total value of $199,390.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $540,958.32. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.62, for a total value of $66,623.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $803,807.96. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 2,711 shares of company stock worth $1,164,880 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter valued at about $6,129,376,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth about $615,596,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter worth about $394,905,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $300,589,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at about $233,964,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.