Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target to $350.00

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $365.00 to $350.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James reduced their target price on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.28.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $345.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $355.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.03. Eaton has a twelve month low of $235.67 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Eaton will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal 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 yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in Eaton by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 2,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $532,000. Ridgeline Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 38,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.