Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 2,999 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,999 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Eaton were worth $19,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 76,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,176,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,001,000. Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 71,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,172,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eaton during the first quarter valued at $813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total transaction of $96,721.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,858,328. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Eaton news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson bought 2,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $300.30 per share, with a total value of $662,161.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,161.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total value of $96,721.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,328. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,511 shares of company stock worth $15,809,326 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Eaton in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Eaton from $376.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Eaton from $357.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Four investment 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, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $337.41.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $314.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $125.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $191.82 and a twelve month high of $345.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $299.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $312.10.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.12%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.35 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

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.