Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 690 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 690 shares during the period. Eaton makes up approximately 1.5% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $8,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 48.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after buying an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Eaton by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 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 $295.88 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $115.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $311.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.37.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Melius downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.68.

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.