Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target Cut to $316.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $322.00 to $316.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on ROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an underweight rating and set a $254.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $312.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $307.93.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock traded down $3.09 on Wednesday, hitting $270.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,515,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,059. The company has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $281.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.25. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $252.11 and a 1 year high of $348.52.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 47.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret bought 3,500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,901,262.60. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret purchased 3,500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,901,262.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Nicholas C. Gangestad sold 1,989 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.17, for a total transaction of $573,170.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,520,572.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,240 shares of company stock worth $4,891,324. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33,600.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,658,000 after purchasing an additional 294,337 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2,932.2% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 246,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,445,000 after acquiring an additional 238,097 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth $64,635,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 9.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,908,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $545,474,000 after acquiring an additional 172,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $43,222,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.