Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) had its target price lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $257.00 to $290.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ROK stock traded down $3.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $294.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 675,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 848,794. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.32 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $286.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.81. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth about $284,177,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 675,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $193,047,000 after acquiring an additional 674,698 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $368,021,000 after acquiring an additional 651,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.