Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target to $350.00

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $365.00 to $350.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on ETN. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.28.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $345.24 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $354.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $328.57. Eaton has a fifty-two week low of $235.67 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The firm has a market cap of $136.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $236,000. HCR Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 2nd quarter valued at $320,000. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 297.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 21,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,839,000 after acquiring an additional 16,326 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.2% in the second quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 8,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 353.5% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 17,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,547,000 after acquiring an additional 13,835 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.