Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 148,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35,919 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $35,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 5.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. BCS Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at $216,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,205,000 after buying an additional 7,964 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $2,958,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at $479,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton 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 sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ETN. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $310.15 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $123.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $161.12 and a 52 week 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.