Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its holdings in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 124,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,457 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $15,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Emerson Electric by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,810,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,822,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,980 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Emerson Electric by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,552,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,591,612,000 after purchasing an additional 581,102 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Emerson Electric by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,453,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,247,570,000 after purchasing an additional 162,985 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Emerson Electric by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,013,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $871,083,000 after purchasing an additional 375,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,523,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $385,354,000 after buying an additional 132,186 shares during the last quarter. 74.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Emerson Electric in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Emerson Electric to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.67.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:EMR opened at $116.19 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.41. The company has a market cap of $65.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.34. 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 52 week low of $96.62 and a 52 week high of $134.85.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.74% and a return on equity of 12.08%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.5275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.36%.

About Emerson Electric

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.