Morgan Stanley Increases Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target to $345.00

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $335.00 to $345.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock traded down $3.85 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $294.81. 881,936 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 717,689. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.97. The company has a market cap of $33.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $308.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is 65.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,707 shares of company stock valued at $10,933,215. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 455.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.