Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Takes Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,652 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Eaton by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after buying an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,051,807,000 after buying an additional 182,455 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,714,677,000 after buying an additional 129,071 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,671,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,550,226,000 after buying an additional 192,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Eaton by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,518,207,000 after buying an additional 368,241 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ETN. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $323.00 to $351.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eaton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.83.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded down $4.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $320.35. The stock had a trading volume of 3,787,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,670,431. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $293.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $317.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $231.85 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Eaton's payout ratio is 41.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of Eaton 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 490,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $158,214,632. This trade represents a 17.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.