Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,241 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,696,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,495,582,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 27,281.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,593,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $976,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580,198 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $523,541,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 42,255.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $243,036,000 after buying an additional 730,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $231,552,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total value of $629,364.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 51,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.43, for a total value of $15,593,423.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 489,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,490,880.92. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ETN. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $323.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.78.

Eaton Trading Down 2.1%

ETN traded down $7.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $323.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,565,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,305. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $303.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.16. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $231.85 and a 1-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.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Eaton's payout ratio is 41.98%.

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.