Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 89,139 Shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 708,215 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 89,139 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Emerson Electric worth $77,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Emerson Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Emerson Electric during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Emerson Electric during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric by 145.3% during the first quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC now owns 260 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 74.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EMR. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $133.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Emerson Electric to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Emerson Electric from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Emerson Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Emerson Electric has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.83.

Emerson Electric Trading Up 0.5%

EMR stock traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,020,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,996,022. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Emerson Electric Co. has a twelve month low of $90.06 and a twelve month high of $139.90. The firm has a market cap of $78.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.29.

Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. Emerson Electric had a net margin of 13.60% and a return on equity of 13.22%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Emerson Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.5275 dividend. This represents a $2.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Emerson Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Surendralal Lanca Karsanbhai sold 16,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total transaction of $1,892,384.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 164,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,694,576.81. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.