Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 622,664 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,397 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.16% of Eaton worth $206,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 51,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.43, for a total transaction of $15,593,423.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 489,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,490,880.92. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of Eaton 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of ETN stock opened at $310.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $319.96. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $231.85 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted 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 business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. Eaton’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.13.

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.