Flputnam Investment Management Co. Purchases 4,128 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,914 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,128 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Eaton were worth $24,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,248,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270,331 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $798,119,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 122,471.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,619,350 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $411,107,000 after buying an additional 2,617,213 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Eaton by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,968,521,000 after buying an additional 2,602,246 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $340,500,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company'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 transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eaton Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $3.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $315.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,420,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,759. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $161.12 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $125.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.31, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $297.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.41.

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. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from Eaton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Eaton's dividend payout ratio is 46.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ETN. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.