Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 41,555 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,555 shares during the period. Eaton accounts for 3.4% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.05% of Eaton worth $709,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $258,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 19.0% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 7,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,407,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 74.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,299,000 after purchasing an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,970,000 after buying an additional 10,295 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eight 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.68.

Eaton Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $246.36 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $296.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $330.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $222.60 and a 12-month high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

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.