Bridges Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $7,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,051,807,000 after purchasing an additional 182,455 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,714,677,000 after purchasing an additional 129,071 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,671,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,550,226,000 after buying an additional 192,482 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Eaton by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,518,207,000 after purchasing an additional 368,241 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 3,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,014.34. The trade was a 38.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 490,208 shares in the company, valued at $158,214,632. This represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ETN. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Eaton from $345.00 to $382.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Eaton from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.74.

Eaton Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of ETN traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $358.29. 127,347 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,657,659. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $329.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.08. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a 52 week low of $231.85 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The company has a market cap of $140.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.17.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 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.