Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Has $1.02 Million Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,684 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,749,751,000 after acquiring an additional 176,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 36.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,538,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358,584 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Eaton by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,968,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,084,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,210,672,000 after purchasing an additional 136,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Down 1.6 %

ETN stock opened at $310.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $161.12 and a fifty-two week high of $331.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.53. The company has a market cap of $123.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.