Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Makes New $814,000 Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 increased its holdings in Eaton by 36.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Eaton by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,009,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,068,412,000 after acquiring an additional 109,775 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,739,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $900,600,000 after purchasing an additional 138,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,163,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,998,000 after purchasing an additional 27,386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective (up previously from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.27.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN traded up $2.97 on Wednesday, reaching $330.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,401,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,018,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $165.24 and a 52-week high of $333.13. The company has a market cap of $132.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.55.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.45 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 44.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,219 shares of company stock valued at $5,509,667 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.