Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $320.00 to $335.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ROK. Mizuho upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE ROK opened at $286.15 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $269.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.87. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after buying an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after buying an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.