Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) Stake Increased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) by 8.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eaton were worth $9,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bearing Point Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $2,713,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.9% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 5.4% during the first quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $738,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 5.4% during the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 3,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,575,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,382 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,014.34. The trade was a 38.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 51,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.43, for a total value of $15,593,423.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 489,444 shares in the company, valued at $149,490,880.92. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $355.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Eaton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Eaton in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Eaton from $306.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Eaton in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.78.

Eaton Trading Up 1.6%

Eaton stock opened at $353.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $318.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.16. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a 52 week low of $231.85 and a 52 week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 41.98%.

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.