West Paces Advisors Inc. Buys 108 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $315.35. 1,540,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,888,930. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $161.12 and a 52-week high of $331.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $297.85 and a 200 day moving average of $252.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $125.98 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

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 business had revenue of $5.97 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 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.