Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,761 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Eaton by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,051,807,000 after acquiring an additional 182,455 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,714,677,000 after buying an additional 129,071 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Eaton by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,518,207,000 after acquiring an additional 368,241 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,495,582,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Eaton from $289.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.13.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This represents a 38.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Up 1.7 %

ETN stock opened at $307.34 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $231.85 and a 12 month high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $120.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $282.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.53.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 41.98%.

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.