Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,262,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 298,898 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.83% of Eaton worth $1,082,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,495,582,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 42,255.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,036,000 after acquiring an additional 730,594 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Eaton by 390.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 539,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,421,000 after purchasing an additional 429,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Eaton by 3,508.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,321,000 after purchasing an additional 390,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their price target on Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.16.

Eaton Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $274.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $255.65 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.66. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.79%.

About Eaton

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.