Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Eaton makes up 3.9% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $10,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment lifted 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% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Eaton during the third quarter worth $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ETN. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.89.

Insider Activity

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of Eaton 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 directly owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Eaton stock opened at $346.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $354.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $236.20 and a 12-month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

About Eaton

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.