Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target on Rockwell to $360 (from $410) and kept an "equal weight" rating, implying about a 2.6% downside from the recent share price.
• Rockwell beat quarterly estimates with $2.75 EPS (vs. $2.46 expected) and set FY2026 guidance of 11.40–12.20 EPS, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target near $409.44.
• Insiders sold roughly 49,228 shares (~$20.0M) in the last 90 days, even as large institutions like Norges Bank and Northwestern Mutual significantly increased positions, leaving about 75.8% of the stock owned by institutions.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $410.00 to $360.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential downside of 2.57% from the stock's current price.

ROK has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered Rockwell Automation from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $460.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $439.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $329.00 to $448.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $409.44.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK stock traded up $10.61 on Wednesday, reaching $369.49. 325,332 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,006,088. Rockwell Automation has a 12 month low of $215.00 and a 12 month high of $438.72. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $390.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $382.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.26, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Rockwell Automation has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.400-12.200 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.21, for a total value of $485,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,479.77. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,228 shares of company stock valued at $19,992,391. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth approximately $615,596,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5,925.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 906,192 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $352,572,000 after acquiring an additional 891,153 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 128.9% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 866,992 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $287,989,000 after acquiring an additional 488,262 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 122.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 819,708 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $286,522,000 after acquiring an additional 451,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $156,017,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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