Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 25,566 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,347,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,566 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Eaton were worth $447,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Eaton by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its position in Eaton by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Eaton from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $350.22.

Eaton Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $268.15 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.05 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $231.85 and a 12 month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 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.