Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 108 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management cut its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Eaton were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,749,751,000 after purchasing an additional 176,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,248,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270,331 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Eaton by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,009,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,068,412,000 after purchasing an additional 109,775 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Eaton by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,739,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,600,000 after purchasing an additional 138,465 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Eaton by 97.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,860,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,767,000 after purchasing an additional 918,422 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,219 shares of company stock valued at $5,509,667. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $330.40 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $310.41 and its 200 day moving average is $264.55. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $165.24 and a 52 week high of $333.13. The stock has a market cap of $132.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ETN. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.27.

Eaton Company 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.