Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,097 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $11,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 105,280.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,417,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,227,354,000 after purchasing an additional 54,365,954 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Emerson Electric by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,750,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,327,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,294 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Emerson Electric by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,199,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $791,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,202 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Emerson Electric by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,447,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $723,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558,903 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Emerson Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $702,606,000. 74.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark A. Blinn sold 2,413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.18, for a total transaction of $248,973.34. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $989,599.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:EMR opened at $111.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $63.79 billion, a PE ratio of 5.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.37. Emerson Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $76.94 and a fifty-two week high of $115.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Emerson Electric from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Emerson Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.47.

Emerson Electric Company 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.