Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Holdings Lowered by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,580,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 45,483 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.40% of Eaton worth $380,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ETN. FMR LLC raised its position in Eaton by 36.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $798,119,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Eaton by 122,471.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,619,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $411,107,000 after buying an additional 2,617,213 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Eaton by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,968,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $340,500,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN traded up $1.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $318.50. 2,248,538 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,156,799. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $156.80 and a fifty-two week high of $331.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $296.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.88%.

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.