Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Sold by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. trimmed its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the quarter. Eaton accounts for about 3.5% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $23,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Eaton by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ETN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.61.

Eaton Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $340.60 on Tuesday. 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 50 day moving average of $355.33 and a 200-day moving average of $329.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.61 billion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $236.04 and a 52 week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.