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

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ETN. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 6.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,750,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $346,000. Iowa State Bank grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.9% during the third quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 23,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,795,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 2.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,731,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ETN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. This represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $313.11 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99. The company has a market cap of $123.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $343.25 and a 200-day moving average of $331.01.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.04 EPS 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.