Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust cut its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $595,820,000 after acquiring an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,628,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,093,000 after purchasing an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 947,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,070,000 after purchasing an additional 126,301 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $101.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.89 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.63 and a 200 day moving average of $100.07.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EMN. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.