Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by CCM Investment Advisers LLC

CCM Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,144 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,820 shares during the period. Eaton comprises about 2.3% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $20,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Breakwater Investment Management lifted its stake in Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 83.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock traded down $5.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $339.48. 746,540 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,070,244. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $134.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $236.04 and a one year high of $379.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $355.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $328.69.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

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.