Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 4,300 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 12.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $870,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 1.3% in the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $357.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $376.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Eaton in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $337.41.

Eaton Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of ETN opened at $311.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $191.82 and a 52 week high of $345.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $300.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $312.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.35 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.12%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.74 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, Director Karenann K. Terrell bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $298.97 per share, for a total transaction of $149,485.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,485. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 49,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.02, for a total transaction of $14,762,020.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,451,287.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Karenann K. Terrell purchased 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $298.97 per share, with a total value of $149,485.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,485. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,511 shares of company stock worth $15,809,326. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.