Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Takes Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,798,000 after buying an additional 597,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 253.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after buying an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ETN shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.16.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $281.04 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $110.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $331.22.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 43.79%.

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.