Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Taika Capital LP

Taika Capital LP reduced its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,067 shares during the quarter. Eaton comprises 4.6% of Taika Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Taika Capital LP’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 42.3% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 1,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton in the third quarter worth approximately $2,321,000. United Bank bought a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at $258,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 30,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,247,000 after buying an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.58.

Eaton Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $285.29 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $321.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $111.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.