Oppenheimer Has Lowered Expectations for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Price

Key Points

• Oppenheimer has lowered its price target for Rockwell Automation from $371.00 to $363.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating, which indicates a potential upside of 8.71% from the stock's previous close.
• Rockwell Automation reported earnings of $2.82 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 4.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company's average target price now stands at $340.68, with a general consensus rating classified as "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Oppenheimer from $371.00 to $363.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Oppenheimer's price target suggests a potential upside of 10.12% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ROK. BNP Paribas upgraded Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen raised Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. CICC Research started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $381.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $339.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE:ROK traded down $3.58 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $329.65. 375,165 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 942,085. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.28. Rockwell Automation has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $360.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 12.03%. Rockwell Automation's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 551 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.31, for a total value of $179,796.81. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,147,726.41. The trade was a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 526 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total value of $171,134.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 983 shares in the company, valued at $319,819.05. The trade was a 34.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,818 shares of company stock valued at $1,944,708 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $181,588,000 after buying an additional 700,447 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 720.8% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 399,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $132,638,000 after purchasing an additional 350,662 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 7,730.3% during the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 354,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $117,851,000 after purchasing an additional 350,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 935,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $267,421,000 after purchasing an additional 339,480 shares in the last quarter. 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.