Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $368.98, but opened at $329.49. Eaton shares last traded at $320.54, with a volume of 2,426,287 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price target for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.89.

Eaton Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $124.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $353.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 over the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Eaton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $400,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the second quarter valued at about $782,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,383,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 7.2% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management raised its stake in Eaton by 13.4% during the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.