Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $12.47 Million Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,253 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 801.4% during the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 115,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,165,000 after purchasing an additional 102,242 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 62,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,681,000 after purchasing an additional 6,269 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,368,000 after purchasing an additional 5,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 61,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,475,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Melius downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.56.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $329.40 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $231.85 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $128.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $319.71.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share 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 dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,382 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total transaction of $33,400,106.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 490,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,214,632. This trade represents a 17.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894 in the last quarter. 0.30% 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.