Perpetual Ltd Cuts Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Perpetual Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Eaton by 83.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in Eaton by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.89.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock opened at $357.45 on Wednesday. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $239.17 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $353.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $330.17. The stock has a market cap of $141.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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.