Nicholas Company Inc. Has $4.37 Million Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Nicholas Company Inc. cut its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,967 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $4,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its position in Eaton by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in 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 during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Barclays cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $294.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $115.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $316.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.