Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,764,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 51,054 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.43, for a total transaction of $15,593,423.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 489,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,490,880.92. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 156,660 shares of company stock valued at $49,622,894 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $326.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.78.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $330.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.16 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.16. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $231.85 and a one year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $303.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $315.40.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.98%.

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.