WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $366,000 Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Eaton were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 0.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 36.0% during 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Eaton by 3.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,034,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,425,595,000 after buying an additional 495,948 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Eaton by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,968,521,000 after buying an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 2.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,084,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,210,672,000 after acquiring an additional 136,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $246.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.20.

Eaton Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ETN stock traded down $1.99 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $312.41. 763,608 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,758,629. The business has a 50 day moving average of $278.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $155.38 and a 52 week high of $317.02. The company has a market capitalization of $124.81 billion, a PE ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.