Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Purchases 205 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value 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 trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Evercore ISI downgraded Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group started coverage on Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.20.

Eaton Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $313.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $343.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $255.65 and a 12-month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton 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.