Clare Market Investments LLC Buys Shares of 3,508 Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,508 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,164,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in Eaton by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Eaton in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 621.4% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $285.29 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $321.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.19. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

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 value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ETN. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.58.

Eaton 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.