Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 189 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Eaton by 83.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 621.4% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price for the company. Melius cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $297.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $332.81. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $117.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Company 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.