SFE Investment Counsel Sells 729 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 729 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Eaton were worth $3,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its position in Eaton by 16.2% in the third quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of Eaton 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ETN shares. Melius cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI cut Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.20.

Eaton Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $309.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, 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. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $339.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.