ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. reduced its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,077 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $9,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Breakwater Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 83.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter worth $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $341.40. The stock had a trading volume of 669,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,052,288. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.04 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $355.01 and a 200 day moving average of $328.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $134.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ETN. Barclays boosted 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. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.28.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. This represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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 corporate insiders.

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.