Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Upgraded to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $410.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $360.00.

ROK has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $392.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas raised Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $341.11.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK traded up $5.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $357.12. The company had a trading volume of 441,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,031. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Rockwell Automation has a twelve month low of $215.00 and a twelve month high of $357.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $322.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.25 billion, a PE ratio of 44.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 363 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.32, for a total transaction of $118,454.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,325,838.16. This trade represents a 8.20% 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 hyperlink. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 939 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.24, for a total transaction of $285,681.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $299,067.92. This trade represents a 48.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,388 shares of company stock worth $2,307,487 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $284,177,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $181,588,000 after buying an additional 700,447 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 675,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $193,047,000 after acquiring an additional 674,698 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $368,021,000 after acquiring an additional 651,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 432,934 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.