New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stake in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 300,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,855 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of Eaton worth $81,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Eaton by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,051,807,000 after buying an additional 182,455 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,714,677,000 after buying an additional 129,071 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,671,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,550,226,000 after buying an additional 192,482 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,518,207,000 after purchasing an additional 368,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total transaction of $33,400,106.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 490,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,214,632. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $323.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $306.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $369.06.

Eaton Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE ETN traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $356.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,013,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,658,958. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $321.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.47. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a twelve month low of $231.85 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The business's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Eaton's payout ratio is 41.98%.

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.