Meridian Financial Partners LLC Buys New Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $1,087,983,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 2,006.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 964,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $232,326,000 after buying an additional 918,936 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at $181,411,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 207.5% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 970,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,698,000 after buying an additional 654,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,029,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $488,815,000 after buying an additional 337,351 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $355.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC raised their price target on Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Down 0.1 %

Eaton stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $313.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,557,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,258,211. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $325.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.72. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $191.82 and a 1-year high of $345.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.39%.

Eaton 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.