Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Increases Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 59.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Eaton were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Melius cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.11.

Eaton Trading Down 16.0 %

Shares of ETN stock opened at $310.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $244.35 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.47. The firm has a market cap of $122.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 quarter, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.