First Merchants Corp Grows Stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

First Merchants Corp raised its stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 37.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMR. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Emerson Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Emerson Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 145.3% during the 1st quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 74.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $133.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Emerson Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $113.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Surendralal Lanca Karsanbhai sold 16,698 shares of Emerson Electric stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 164,957 shares in the company, valued at $18,694,576.81. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

Emerson Electric stock opened at $133.16 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $118.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.28. Emerson Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.06 and a fifty-two week high of $134.85.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.60% and a return on equity of 13.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.5275 per share. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.48%.

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.