Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Sells 518 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 37.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 36.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,248,960,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270,331 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $798,119,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 122,471.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,619,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,617,213 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,968,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth approximately $340,500,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.20.

Eaton Trading Down 0.2 %

ETN traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $313.67. 976,269 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,761,323. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $278.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.64. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $155.38 and a 52 week high of $317.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton 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.