BNP Paribas Downgrades Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to Hold

BNP Paribas lowered shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ROK has been the subject of several other research reports. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.1 %

ROK opened at $298.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $308.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.65.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock valued at $10,678,037. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 4,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.