Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 157 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 0.7% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 56,516 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 253.2% during the third 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 buying an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,436,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $476,582,000 after buying an additional 13,862 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN stock opened at $293.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $326.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.29. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 39.58%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.05.

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.