Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 309 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 173,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,875,000 after purchasing an additional 56,065 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in Eaton by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 6,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $768,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Eaton 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 transaction, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the company’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 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 have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 1.7 %

ETN stock opened at $308.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.94. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $161.12 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The company has a market capitalization of $123.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ETN shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.60.

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.