Rothschild & Co Redburn Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock

Key Points

• Rothschild & Co Redburn raised its price target on Rockwell to $378 (from $365), a level that still implies roughly a 15.7% downside from the stock's prior close.
• Rockwell beat Q2 estimates with $3.30 EPS (vs. $2.88) and $2.24B revenue, and raised FY‑2026 guidance to $12.50–$13.10 EPS and $9.3–9.7B revenue, sending shares to record highs.
• Analyst views are mixed — the consensus price target is $427.63 with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" (1 Strong Buy, 9 Buy, 11 Hold) — while insiders sold about 51,375 shares (~$20.8M) last quarter and institutions own ~75.8% of the stock.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from $365.00 to $378.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 15.73% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ROK. Oppenheimer downgraded Rockwell Automation from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $380.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Argus raised shares of Rockwell Automation to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $427.63.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $448.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $390.50. Rockwell Automation has a 52 week low of $277.66 and a 52 week high of $455.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $50.40 billion, a PE ratio of 51.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.56.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The company's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.500-13.100 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 12,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $404.27, for a total transaction of $4,891,667.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 12,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,932,094. This trade represents a 49.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.37, for a total transaction of $812,599.45. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,217.32. This trade represents a 32.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 51,375 shares of company stock valued at $20,828,717. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 79 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, TD Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Rockwell Automation News

Here are the key news stories impacting Rockwell Automation this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 beats and raised guidance — Rockwell reported $3.30 EPS vs. estimates and $2.24B revenue, and raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $12.50–13.10 (above consensus) and revenue guidance to $9.3–9.7B, supporting the rally. ROK Beats Q2 Earnings Estimates on Higher Volume, Hikes FY26 View
• Positive Sentiment: Management cites broadening demand — Management pointed to stronger AI-related factory automation and general industrial demand when boosting the outlook, a demand tailwind investors framed as sustainable revenue growth. Automation play breaks out on Q2 earnings; hikes outlook on improved AI, factory demand
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction & record highs — Coverage and headlines (Dow & market context) emphasized the beat + guide lift, with shares jumping into record territory as investors re‑rate growth and margin outlook. Rockwell Automation (ROK) Soars to Record Peak Following Strong Q2 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Primary disclosures & materials available — Company press release, slide deck and full earnings call/transcript give details behind the beat; useful for modeling upcoming quarters but not new catalytic information. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Negative Sentiment: New cyber & third‑party data privacy risk disclosure — Rockwell flagged increased cyber and third‑party data privacy risks tied to its global IT and cloud reliance; this raises operational/insurance and remediation cost risks that investors should monitor. Rockwell Automation Faces Heightened Cyber and Third-Party Data Privacy Risks from Global IT and Cloud Reliance

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.

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