Goldstone Financial Group LLC Boosts Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 378 shares during the quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 1,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 16.2% during the third quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC increased its position in Eaton by 3.1% in the 4th 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 period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 2.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 approximately $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 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. This trade 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 have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $345.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $329.43. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.04 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The firm has a market cap of $136.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.89.

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.