Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Bought by Nixon Peabody Trust Co.

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1,295.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 13,430 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $4,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ETN. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 20.5% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 75.5% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in Eaton by 44.5% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Eaton by 41.0% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 288,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,483,000 after purchasing an additional 83,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.05.

Eaton Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $293.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $326.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.29. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,379,403.94. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.