SFE Investment Counsel Has $3.06 Million Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 729 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Eaton were worth $3,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Eaton by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth $33,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Eaton by 621.4% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Eaton from $407.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.20.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 approximately $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $309.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.62, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $339.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.04 EPS 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.