2,651 Shares in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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 valued at $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 worth $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $310,628,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings 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 valued at $306,093,000 after buying an additional 83,504 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 126,301 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $92.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.17. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. Research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.