Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Cut to Hold at BNP Paribas

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was downgraded by equities researchers at BNP Paribas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ROK has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ROK opened at $302.01 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.65. Rockwell Automation has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $308.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35.

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 net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,536. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.