Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Capital Analysts LLC

Capital Analysts LLC cut its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,026 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Amarillo National Bank lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 1,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 17,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $313.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.31, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.41. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $161.12 and a twelve month high of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

About Eaton

Eaton Corporation plc operates as a power management company worldwide. The company's Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segment provides electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality and connectivity products, wiring devices, circuit protection products, utility power distribution products, power reliability equipment, and services, as well as hazardous duty electrical equipment, emergency lighting, fire detection, explosion-proof instrumentation, and structural support systems.