Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 753 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 753 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $3,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Eaton by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management lifted its holdings in Eaton by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 2,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Diversified LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Telemus Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction 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 $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $310.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $301.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $161.12 and a 52 week high of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 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.