Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,169 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $7,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Eaton by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after acquiring an additional 316,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 253.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $753,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,436,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $476,582,000 after acquiring an additional 13,862 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their target price for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Eaton from $407.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.20.

Eaton Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ETN opened at $309.21 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $337.21 and its 200 day moving average is $331.39. The company has a market capitalization of $122.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. Research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 through this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.