Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 432.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Eaton by 621.4% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.20.

Eaton Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $292.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $114.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $318.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.65. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is 43.79%.

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.