Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in Eaton Corporation by 74% during the first quarter, bringing its holdings down to 1,397 shares valued at $380,000.
• Insiders at Eaton sold a total of 156,660 shares worth approximately $49.6 million in the past 90 days, causing a significant decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Eaton, with a target price averaging around $377.89, supported by multiple upgrades from firms like Barclays and KeyCorp.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its position in shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 74.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,397 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,982 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Eaton were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 27,281.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,593,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $976,772,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580,198 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $523,541,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,552,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,007,570 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $998,144,000 after purchasing an additional 588,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,077,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ETN. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $396.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Eaton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $326.00 to $349.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $377.89.

Eaton Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of ETN stock traded down $3.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $381.52. 2,416,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,049,141. The business's fifty day moving average is $349.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.18. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a 12-month low of $231.85 and a 12-month high of $399.56.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.55%. The company's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Eaton's dividend payout ratio is 41.98%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total value of $33,400,106.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 490,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,214,632. This represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total value of $629,364.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,004,014.34. This represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock valued at $49,622,894 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.