Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 700 Shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

Key Points

• Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Eaton Corporation by 23.6%, acquiring an additional 700 shares to reach a total of 3,666 shares worth $997,000.
• Eaton reported a quarterly earnings of $2.72 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenue reaching $6.38 billion, up 7.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.04 per share with an annualized yield of 1.08%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 41.98%.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 23.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,666 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Eaton were worth $997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,495,582,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 27,281.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,593,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $976,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580,198 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $523,541,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $231,552,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 3,382 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,014.34. This represents a 38.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 directly owned 490,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,214,632. This represents a 17.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $326.00 to $349.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $377.89.

Eaton Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ETN stock traded up $0.47 on Monday, reaching $392.64. 1,612,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,063,886. The stock has a market cap of $153.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.17. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a one year low of $231.85 and a one year high of $399.56. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $344.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.82.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Eaton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.98%.

Eaton Company 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.