Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 51.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,677 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Telemus Capital LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Amarillo National Bank grew its holdings in Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 1,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in Eaton by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 2,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 17,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America increased 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $318.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $306.65 and a 200 day moving average of $260.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly 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 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 the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given 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 yield of 1.18%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.