Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Price Target Cut to $448.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs cut its price target on Rockwell Automation to $448 (from $458) while keeping a "neutral" rating, a target that the note says implies about a 22.9% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views are mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $406.67 consensus target, while firms have recently moved targets in both directions (e.g., Barclays to $400, TD Cowen to $350, Robert W. Baird to $410).
• Rockwell reported a quarterly beat with $2.75 EPS vs. $2.46 expected and $2.11B revenue vs. $2.08B expected, and set FY2026 guidance of 11.40–12.20 EPS.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $458.00 to $448.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the industrial products company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target indicates a potential upside of 22.86% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ROK. Barclays lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Rockwell Automation from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research cut Rockwell Automation from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $435.00 to $410.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $406.67.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.7%

ROK stock opened at $364.65 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $386.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.60. The stock has a market cap of $40.97 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.54. Rockwell Automation has a fifty-two week low of $215.00 and a fifty-two week high of $438.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.29. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.92% and a net margin of 11.56%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.400-12.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 12,100 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.27, for a total transaction of $4,891,667.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,932,094. The trade was a 49.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 17,407 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.61, for a total transaction of $7,043,046.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 3,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,340,877.54. This trade represents a 84.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,727 shares of company stock valued at $19,786,132. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,206,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,527,249,000 after buying an additional 114,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,996,130 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,943,844,000 after buying an additional 202,705 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,924,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,133,397,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,921,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,136,801,000 after buying an additional 276,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,104,985 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $818,986,000 after buying an additional 24,719 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation is a global industrial automation and digital transformation company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm designs, manufactures and supports control systems, industrial control hardware and software, and related services that help manufacturers and industrial operators automate processes, improve productivity and enable data-driven decision making. Rockwell traces its heritage to the Allen-Bradley and Rockwell automation businesses and positions itself as a provider of integrated automation solutions across discrete and process industries.

The company's product portfolio includes programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable frequency drives, sensors, safety components and other industrial control hardware, often marketed under the Allen-Bradley brand.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.