Sapient Capital LLC Buys Shares of 1,133 Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $351,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 37,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,005,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $214,469,000 after purchasing an additional 99,367 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 12,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 20,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $327.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $309.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.61. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $165.24 and a one year high of $333.05. The firm has a market cap of $130.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ETN. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.27.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

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 transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a 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 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 owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.33% 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.