APG Asset Management N.V. Increases Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

APG Asset Management N.V. increased its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 33.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 199,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 50,340 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $58,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the first quarter worth about $2,176,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eaton during the 1st quarter worth approximately $813,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $554,000. IAM Advisory LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at $599,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 78,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,616,000 after purchasing an additional 12,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson purchased 2,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $300.30 per share, with a total value of $662,161.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,161.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 49,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.02, for a total transaction of $14,762,020.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,262 shares in the company, valued at $21,451,287.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dorothy C. Thompson acquired 2,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $300.30 per share, with a total value of $662,161.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,161.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,511 shares of company stock valued at $15,809,326 over the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Eaton from $357.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Eaton from $376.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $337.41.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN opened at $333.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.23. The firm has a market cap of $132.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.32, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.01. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $191.82 and a 1 year high of $345.19.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.35 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Eaton 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.