Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $40.07 Million Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 120,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,154 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $40,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after acquiring an additional 316,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake 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 worth $801,798,000 after acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Eaton by 253.2% during the third 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 worth $753,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,255,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,555,000 after purchasing an additional 37,138 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $285.29 on Monday. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $321.13 and a 200-day moving average of $332.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase 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 1.46%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.58.

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.