Choate Investment Advisors Sells 6,348 Shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Choate Investment Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,348 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $11,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $297,947,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Emerson Electric by 6.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,810,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,822,858,000 after buying an additional 1,507,980 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,426,718 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Emerson Electric by 127.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,544,439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $278,285,000 after buying an additional 1,424,800 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Emerson Electric by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,766,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,889,000 after buying an additional 965,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Emerson Electric from $137.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Emerson Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $147.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Emerson Electric from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Emerson Electric from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Emerson Electric in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.28.

Emerson Electric Stock Performance

EMR stock opened at $112.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.22 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.36. Emerson Electric Co. has a 12-month low of $96.62 and a 12-month high of $134.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.85.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.10. Emerson Electric had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 13.74%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.5275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Emerson Electric’s payout ratio is 50.36%.

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.