Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 28,429 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,429 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $55,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Eaton by 48.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. grew its position in Eaton by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Eaton by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ETN. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $274.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $305.90 and a 200-day moving average of $331.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $255.65 and a 12 month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

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.