Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Purchases 178 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Eaton by 0.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,206,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,005,317,000 after purchasing an additional 18,077 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Eaton by 32.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Eaton by 253.2% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $342.35 on Thursday. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.04 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $135.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.42, 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $355.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $329.33.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

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

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.