JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 1,078,196 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,848,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,078,196 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $5,923,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ETN. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 83.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in Eaton by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $285.60 on Thursday. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $255.65 and a 1 year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $308.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.57.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (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 prior year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be 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 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ETN shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

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.