ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Reduces Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $9,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Breakwater Investment Management raised its holdings in Eaton by 1,560.0% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Eaton by 83.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Eaton during the third quarter worth $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the third quarter worth about $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho increased their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.28.

Eaton Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $3.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $341.40. 669,204 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,052,288. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $355.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $134.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $236.04 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.