Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by First City Capital Management Inc.

First City Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Breakwater Investment Management grew its holdings in Eaton by 1,560.0% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Raymond James decreased their price target on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Eaton in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.83.

Eaton Stock Performance

Eaton stock traded up $10.35 on Friday, hitting $342.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 998,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,131. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $354.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $327.98. The firm has a market cap of $135.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.03. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $233.73 and a one year high of $379.99. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % 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. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.