Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded to "Buy" at Jefferies Financial Group

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $350.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock, up from their previous price target of $290.00. Jefferies Financial Group's target price points to a potential upside of 15.54% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on ROK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK traded up $5.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $302.92. 1,331,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 891,454. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $279.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.50. The company has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. 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.