Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,640 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Eaton were worth $27,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ETN. RB Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.5% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Eaton by 74.8% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 101,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,390,000 after buying an additional 43,381 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eaton by 0.6% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,790,000 after buying an additional 2,057 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Eaton by 9.1% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Eaton in the first quarter valued at about $1,188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $315.28 on Tuesday. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $161.12 and a 12-month high of $331.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 46.88%.

Eaton Profile

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.