Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Stake Cut by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. cut its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 76.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,415 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Eaton by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,248,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270,331 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $798,119,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 122,471.4% in 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 buying an additional 2,617,213 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,602,246 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $340,500,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other 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 value of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $318.50 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $296.93 and a 200-day moving average of $251.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $156.80 and a twelve month high of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. Eaton’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 46.88%.

Eaton Company 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.