Paladin Advisory Group LLC Lowers Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Paladin Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Paladin Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 36.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $798,119,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 122,471.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,619,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,107,000 after buying an additional 2,617,213 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Eaton by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,968,521,000 after buying an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the third quarter valued at $340,500,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded down $5.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $303.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,084,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,908,520. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.20 and a 200-day moving average of $253.91. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $161.12 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $121.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.60.

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.