Searle & CO. Reduces Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Searle & CO. reduced its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the third quarter worth approximately $226,000. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 6.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 62,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,300,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 27.8% during the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 105,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,444,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eaton Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ETN stock traded down $6.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $312.03. 3,356,408 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,027,492. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $165.24 and a 52-week high of $333.05. 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 moving average price is $306.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.44.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s payout ratio is 46.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised 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 upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.93.

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.