Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 316,830 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 316,830 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.61% of Eaton worth $836,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 1,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price target for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,811,696. This represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $358.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $141.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $231.84 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $355.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $326.59.

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

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

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.