Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 590 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 590 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,545,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,740,397,000 after purchasing an additional 398,146 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Eaton by 28.5% during the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,916,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $922,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533,229 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Eaton by 5.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,369,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $849,465,000 after purchasing an additional 302,429 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 17.5% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,322,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $959,460,000 after purchasing an additional 943,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 4.7% during the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 5,449,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $726,764,000 after purchasing an additional 244,082 shares during the last quarter. 80.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,326 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.23, for a total value of $398,280.98. Following the sale, the insider now owns 77,626 shares in the company, valued at $13,291,899.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joao V. Faria sold 5,204 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.55, for a total value of $908,358.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,314 shares in the company, valued at $13,320,608.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,326 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.23, for a total transaction of $398,280.98. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 77,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,291,899.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,377 shares of company stock worth $5,864,193 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Thursday. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $173.00 to $197.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $175.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $169.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.00.

Eaton Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $4.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $160.15. The stock had a trading volume of 6,000,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,988,002. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.38. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $122.50 and a 1 year high of $178.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.97. The firm has a market cap of $63.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 11.86% and a return on equity of 18.31%. The company had revenue of $5.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 8.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eaton’s payout ratio is 55.94%.

About Eaton

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Eaton Corp. Plc is a power management company, which provides energy-efficient solutions for electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power. It operates through the following segments: Electrical Americas and Electrical Global, Aerospace, Vehicle, and eMobility. The Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segments engage in sales contracts for electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality, wiring devices, circuit protection, utility power distribution, power reliability equipment, and service.