Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Shares Bought by Marietta Investment Partners LLC

Marietta Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,503 shares during the quarter. Eaton makes up approximately 2.0% of Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $9,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in 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 increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 42,255.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,036,000 after purchasing an additional 730,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 32.8% in 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. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 390.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 429,701 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Eaton by 3,508.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,321,000 after acquiring an additional 390,595 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $295.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $255.65 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $311.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $331.08. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Eaton’s 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.