Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Eaton (NYSE:ETN)

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 8,194 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 117% compared to the average volume of 3,783 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,595,656 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,812,966,000 after purchasing an additional 259,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Eaton by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,009,435 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,068,412,000 after acquiring an additional 109,775 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,087,983,000. Finally, Coatue Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 3,986,445 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $960,016,000 after acquiring an additional 195,809 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN traded up $2.54 on Monday, hitting $326.84. 3,151,497 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,971,578. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Eaton has a 12 month low of $165.24 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $305.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.67.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $295.60.

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.