BDF Gestion Decreases Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

BDF Gestion cut its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 921 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Eaton by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.0% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 1,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 16.2% in the third quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117 over the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN stock opened at $317.90 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $351.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.21. The company has a market capitalization of $125.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $245.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their target price for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.30.

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.