First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 425 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lowered its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $7,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 457,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,584,000 after acquiring an additional 17,965 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $532,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its stake in Eaton by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 47,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in Eaton by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This represents a 38.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 51,054 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.43, for a total value of $15,593,423.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 489,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,490,880.92. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.13.

Eaton Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE ETN opened at $310.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $231.85 and a 12 month high of $379.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $282.81 and its 200 day moving average is $320.30. The stock has a market cap of $121.31 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.98%.

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.