Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 4,068 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 84.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,068 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 142.9% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total transaction of $801,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ETN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James began coverage on Eaton in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.06.

Eaton Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE ETN traded up $4.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $297.79. The company had a trading volume of 3,090,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,170,230. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Co. plc has a 1-year low of $191.82 and a 1-year high of $345.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $322.30 and its 200-day moving average is $303.25.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 44.39%.

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.