Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Eaton by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,749,751,000 after purchasing an additional 176,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Eaton by 8.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,538,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,833,676,000 after buying an additional 1,358,584 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Eaton by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,968,521,000 after buying an additional 2,602,246 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,084,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,210,672,000 after acquiring an additional 136,334 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $325.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $130.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.82. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $155.38 and a fifty-two week high of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays raised shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.40.

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.