Xponance Inc. Raises Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Eaton by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Amarillo National Bank boosted its position in Eaton by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 1,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 17,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,220,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 0.6 %

ETN stock traded up $1.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $310.91. 272,224 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,870,847. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $300.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.52, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $161.12 and a 52-week high of $331.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid 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 1.21%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ETN. Bank of America upped their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.