Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Purchases 311 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 311 shares during the quarter. Eaton comprises 3.3% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 82.7% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 151,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,693 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC raised its holdings in Eaton by 285.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 38,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ETN shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

Eaton stock opened at $340.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $355.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $329.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.04 and a 52-week high of $379.99.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

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.