Dakota Wealth Management Raises Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Eaton were worth $4,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,749,751,000 after purchasing an additional 176,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 36.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,270,331 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 8.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,538,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,584 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake 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 valued at $1,968,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602,246 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 2.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,084,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,210,672,000 after purchasing an additional 136,334 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $315.28 on Tuesday. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $161.12 and a fifty-two week high of $331.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.31, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.41.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business 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 earned $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

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 in the company, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 in the company, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 a total of 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.60.

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.