California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 25,239 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 729,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,239 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Eaton worth $175,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Eaton by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Eaton by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,205,000 after purchasing an additional 7,964 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,958,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $479,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock traded up $4.83 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $312.92. 800,103 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,898,719. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $301.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.94. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $161.12 and a twelve month high of $331.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the 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 owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the business’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 approximately $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.