Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $7,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after acquiring an additional 56,516 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 32.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 253.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,255,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,555,000 after purchasing an additional 37,138 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $287.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $332.18. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The company has a market capitalization of $112.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

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.