ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,269 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Eaton were worth $20,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its stake in Eaton by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 978 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 752 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Melius Research restated a "hold" rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eaton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $366.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 490,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,214,632. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This represents a 38.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 156,660 shares of company stock valued at $49,622,894 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of ETN opened at $329.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $231.85 and a 12-month high of $379.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $287.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $319.71.

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 (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 firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Eaton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.98%.

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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