Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 64.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 76,928 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $10,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,205,000 after buying an additional 7,964 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,958,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $479,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.60.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $317.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $126.68 billion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $303.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $257.51. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $161.12 and a 1-year high of $331.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Eaton’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.