Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Cuts Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lowered its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Eaton by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,749,751,000 after acquiring an additional 176,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Eaton by 36.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,248,960,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270,331 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Eaton by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,009,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,068,412,000 after acquiring an additional 109,775 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Eaton by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,739,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $900,600,000 after acquiring an additional 138,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Eaton by 97.5% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,860,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $396,767,000 after acquiring an additional 918,422 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $318.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $161.12 and a 52 week high of $331.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $303.06 and a 200 day moving average of $257.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Company 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.