Motive Wealth Advisors Takes $212,000 Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Motive Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 678 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,087,983,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 2,857.4% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,262,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $394,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,790 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Eaton by 2,006.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 964,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,326,000 after purchasing an additional 918,936 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $181,411,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Eaton by 207.5% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 970,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,698,000 after buying an additional 654,855 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total value of $801,725.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Up 0.5 %

ETN traded up $1.69 on Friday, reaching $330.51. 1,644,813 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,000,803. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $325.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.10. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $191.82 and a 52-week high of $345.19. The company has a market cap of $132.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ETN shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $355.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $316.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.06.

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.