Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 1,500 Shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 6.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $2,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $885,886,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 3,866.2% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,022,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $374,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $297,947,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 136.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,316,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913,120 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 234.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,035,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $252,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $158.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Emerson Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $133.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.65.

Emerson Electric Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EMR stock opened at $122.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $109.43 and a 200-day moving average of $118.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Emerson Electric Co. has a 12-month low of $90.06 and a 12-month high of $134.85. The firm has a market cap of $68.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.28.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Emerson Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.5275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 50.48%.

Insider Activity at Emerson Electric

In related news, CEO Surendralal Lanca Karsanbhai sold 16,698 shares of Emerson Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total value of $1,892,384.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 164,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,694,576.81. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.