Argent Capital Management LLC Has $42.30 Million Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Argent Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,456 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,566 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings in Eaton were worth $42,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. boosted its stake in Eaton by 3.0% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 1,027 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 16.2% in 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. Westmount Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 2.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $431.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eaton Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ETN traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $345.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,277,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,477,822. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $355.04 and its 200-day moving average is $329.43. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $236.04 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm posted $2.47 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Eaton's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.