IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Cuts Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd reduced its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,847 shares during the period. Eaton accounts for about 0.8% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 253.2% during the 3rd 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 valued at $753,590,000 after buying an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Eaton by 42,255.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,036,000 after buying an additional 730,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $801,798,000 after buying an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Eaton by 390.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 539,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,421,000 after acquiring an additional 429,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 3,508.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,321,000 after acquiring an additional 390,595 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ETN shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.16.

Eaton Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $285.60 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $308.63 and a 200 day moving average of $331.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 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.