Optimum Investment Advisors Sells 1,650 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Optimum Investment Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 66.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,650 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Eaton were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $885,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at $46,856,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $319,000. Marietta Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 27,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503 shares during the period. Finally, Umpqua Bank raised its position in shares of Eaton by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 2,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Melius cut shares of 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Up 0.1 %

ETN stock opened at $295.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G 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 twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $311.30 and its 200-day moving average is $331.37.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. 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 presently 43.79%.

About Eaton

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.