WASHINGTON TRUST Co Acquires 1,493 Shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Emerson Electric by 100.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 15,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Emerson Electric by 1.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,278,000 after purchasing an additional 41,263 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $241,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Emerson Electric during the third quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its position in Emerson Electric by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 49,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,783,000 after acquiring an additional 30,385 shares during the last quarter. 74.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Emerson Electric

In other news, Director Mark A. Blinn sold 2,413 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,599.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

EMR traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $113.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 776,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,801,061. Emerson Electric Co. has a 52 week low of $76.94 and a 52 week high of $113.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.91 and its 200-day moving average is $96.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $64.59 billion, a PE ratio of 5.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 10.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Emerson Electric from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Emerson Electric from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Emerson Electric from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on Emerson Electric from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Emerson Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Emerson Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.00.

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.