ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 407 Shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EMR. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Emerson Electric by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 15,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,565 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $241,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Emerson Electric by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,278,000 after buying an additional 41,263 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 821.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 86,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,868 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Blinn sold 2,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.18, for a total transaction of $248,973.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,599.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMR traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.58. 2,108,076 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,796,210. Emerson Electric Co. has a 52 week low of $76.94 and a 52 week high of $115.26. The firm has a market cap of $61.98 billion, a PE ratio of 5.66, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $109.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.91 billion. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 69.33% and a return on equity of 11.59%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Emerson Electric’s payout ratio is 10.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EMR. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Emerson Electric from $106.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Emerson Electric from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Emerson Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.25.

Emerson Electric Profile

Emerson Electric Co, a technology and software company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It operates in six segments: Final Control, Control Systems & Software, Measurement & Analytical, AspenTech, Discrete Automation, and Safety & Productivity.