Highland Capital Management LLC Buys 190 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Eaton by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 604,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,598,000 after purchasing an additional 120,746 shares during the period. BCS Wealth Management purchased a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $216,000. Sandler Capital Management increased its position in Eaton by 102.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sandler Capital Management now owns 95,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,259,000 after purchasing an additional 48,410 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $479,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Eaton by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,865,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.20.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $314.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $125.69 billion, a PE ratio of 39.23, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $278.80 and a 200 day moving average of $242.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $155.38 and a one year high of $317.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 46.88%.

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.