Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Eaton comprises about 2.2% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $5,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 127.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Eaton by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in Eaton by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 3,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 3,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 1,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ETN traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $345.04. 93,087 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,252,131. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.04 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.33. The firm has a market cap of $136.36 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

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.