Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) is Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,927 shares during the quarter. Eaton makes up 2.9% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Eaton by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,749,751,000 after purchasing an additional 176,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 36.0% during 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 buying an additional 5,270,331 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Eaton by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,034,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,425,595,000 after buying an additional 495,948 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Eaton by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,968,521,000 after buying an additional 2,602,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,263,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,456,299,000 after buying an additional 179,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Eaton from $246.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.20.

Eaton Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE ETN traded up $0.85 on Monday, reaching $298.75. 1,557,062 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,756,643. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $270.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.34. The company has a market cap of $119.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $155.38 and a 12 month high of $303.40.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. Eaton’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 46.88%.

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.