Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Stock Position Lifted by Mutual Advisors LLC

Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 36.0% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $798,119,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 122,471.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,619,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $411,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617,213 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,968,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton in the third quarter worth $340,500,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Eaton from $246.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $314.63 on Thursday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $155.38 and a twelve month high of $317.02. 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 50-day moving average of $278.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.64. The company has a market capitalization of $125.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 2.59 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 net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.