Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 15.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 32.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 253.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Eaton by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,255,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,555,000 after buying an additional 37,138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $282.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $110.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $319.04 and a 200 day moving average of $331.92. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (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 prior year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Barclays cut their target price on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.58.

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.