Fmr LLC Sells 246,597 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Fmr LLC decreased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 401,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 246,597 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $44,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 13.5% during the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 22,280 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,655 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after buying an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 119.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 5,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,555,000 after acquiring an additional 143,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $101.07 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Profile

Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Additives & Functional Products segment offers amine derivative-based building blocks, intermediates for surfactants, metam-based soil fumigants, and organic acid-based solutions; specialty coalescent and solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; and heat transfer and aviation fluids.