Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 112,524 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,823,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 112,524 shares during the period. Eaton accounts for 0.8% of Bessemer Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $366,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new position in Eaton in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 81.02% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 0.5 %

Eaton stock traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $226.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 440,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,124. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $213.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.76. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $150.86 and a 12 month high of $240.44. The stock has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.13. Eaton had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $5.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 9.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 3rd. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 46.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 1,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $423,664.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,459.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 1,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.68, for a total transaction of $423,664.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,459.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas B. Okray sold 4,950 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.09, for a total transaction of $1,143,895.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,702,440.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Eaton from $228.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Eaton from $185.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. HSBC upped their target price on Eaton from $161.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eaton from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.23.

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.