Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd cut its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 56.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,995 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Eaton were worth $7,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. purchased a new stake in Eaton in the first quarter valued at $40,273,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Eaton by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 16,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Eaton by 163.4% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 263,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,363,000 after buying an additional 163,394 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Eaton by 323.8% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,192,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $998,255,000 after buying an additional 2,439,270 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Sarl acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the first quarter valued at about $4,190,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total transaction of $801,725.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:ETN traded up $4.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $297.79. 3,090,006 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,170,230. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $322.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.69. The company has a market capitalization of $119.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.02. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $191.82 and a fifty-two week high of $345.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.06.

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.