Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,262,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 298,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.83% of Eaton worth $1,082,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after acquiring an additional 99,291 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Eaton by 0.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $836,938,000 after acquiring an additional 316,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 32.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Eaton Stock Down 8.1 %

NYSE:ETN traded down $23.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $260.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,515,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,561,471. The firm has a market cap of $102.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $301.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $330.91. 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 Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Eaton's dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of 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 cut shares of Eaton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $357.16.

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.