Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 690 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 690 shares during the period. Eaton accounts for 1.5% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $8,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in Eaton by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Eaton by 621.4% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ETN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.68.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $295.88 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $255.65 and a 1 year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $311.30 and its 200 day moving average is $331.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

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.