Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Purchased by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Eaton by 0.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,206,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,005,317,000 after purchasing an additional 18,077 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 323.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,192,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $998,255,000 after buying an additional 2,439,270 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,422,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $471,370,000 after buying an additional 40,078 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 15.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,318,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $412,108,000 after buying an additional 176,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Eaton by 27,075.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,073,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $355,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,024 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

Eaton stock opened at $358.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $141.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.35. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $224.52 and a 1-year high of $373.49.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, Director Karenann K. Terrell bought 500 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $298.97 per share, for a total transaction of $149,485.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 500 shares in the company, valued at $149,485. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,705 shares of company stock worth $24,516,346. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on Eaton in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.83.

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.