Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Decreases Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. cut its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $14,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,545,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,740,397,000 after purchasing an additional 398,146 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Eaton by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,916,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $922,424,000 after buying an additional 1,533,229 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,322,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $959,460,000 after buying an additional 943,279 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 4.7% during the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 5,449,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $726,764,000 after acquiring an additional 244,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 3.6% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,108,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $681,315,000 after acquiring an additional 175,351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Brian S. Brickhouse sold 21,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.97, for a total value of $3,777,778.59. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,707.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian S. Brickhouse sold 21,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.97, for a total value of $3,777,778.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,707.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,500 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total transaction of $441,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,314 shares in the company, valued at $12,601,896.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,377 shares of company stock valued at $5,864,193 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $160.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.13. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $122.50 and a twelve month high of $178.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.97.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 11.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 8.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Barclays upped their target price on Eaton from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $173.00 to $197.00 in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer downgraded Eaton from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Eaton from $175.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.00.

Eaton Company Profile

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Eaton Corp. Plc is a power management company, which provides energy-efficient solutions for electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power. It operates through the following segments: Electrical Americas and Electrical Global, Aerospace, Vehicle, and eMobility. The Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segments engage in sales contracts for electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality, wiring devices, circuit protection, utility power distribution, power reliability equipment, and service.