Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 338 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 113.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Eaton were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 253.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 27,075.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,073,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $355,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,024 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Eaton by 32.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after buying an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 31,255.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 478,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $149,928,000 after purchasing an additional 476,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 8,348.9% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 446,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $140,008,000 after buying an additional 441,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho raised their target price on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.83.

Eaton Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $342.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $354.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $327.98. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $233.73 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.39 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.03.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Eaton 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.