FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $279,000 Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Eaton were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 0.7% in 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,087,983,000. Coatue Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 3,986,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $960,016,000 after acquiring an additional 195,809 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Eaton by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,739,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,600,000 after acquiring an additional 138,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,163,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,998,000 after purchasing an additional 27,386 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC lifted their price target on Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.06.

Eaton Stock Up 0.3 %

Eaton stock opened at $313.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $325.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.02. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $191.82 and a 1-year high of $345.19.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total value of $801,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.