Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stock Position in Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its stake in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 489,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,402 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $60,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Emerson Electric by 1.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,301,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Emerson Electric by 74.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 22,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 9,443 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Emerson Electric by 43.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 47,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,174,000 after buying an additional 14,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in Emerson Electric by 3.9% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,090,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,129,000 after buying an additional 40,642 shares during the period. 74.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $136.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Emerson Electric in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Emerson Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Emerson Electric from $116.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Emerson Electric in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.89.

Emerson Electric Stock Down 0.4 %

EMR stock opened at $130.62 on Friday. Emerson Electric Co. has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $134.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $74.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.76.

Emerson Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.5275 dividend. This represents a $2.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Emerson Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Emerson Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 61.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Emerson Electric

In other news, SVP Michael H. Train sold 21,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.96, for a total value of $2,711,289.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 262,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,052,911.68. This represents a 7.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.