Abacus Planning Group Inc. Purchases 234 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in Eaton by 142.9% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new stake in Eaton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eaton in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $376.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $318.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $357.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 49,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.02, for a total value of $14,762,020.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,451,287.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 49,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.02, for a total value of $14,762,020.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,451,287.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total transaction of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,328. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,511 shares of company stock worth $15,809,326 in the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 1.9 %

ETN opened at $306.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.56. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $191.82 and a fifty-two week high of $345.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $305.11 and its 200 day moving average is $310.40. The stock has a market cap of $122.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 15.12% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.35 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.39%.

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.