Hills Bank & Trust Co Increases Position in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its position in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 359.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,427 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,377 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co's holdings in Eaton were worth $2,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 0.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,219 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,593,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,713,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 4.9% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,505 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank increased its stake in Eaton by 5.4% in the first quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,715 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust increased its stake in Eaton by 5.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 3,145 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $855,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $306.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.78.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $353.74 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $318.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $312.49. Eaton Corporation, 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 0.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $138.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.16.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Eaton's payout ratio is 41.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total transaction of $33,400,106.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 490,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,214,632. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,382 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894. 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.

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