Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 13,381 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,381 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $310,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 13.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,092 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,268,000 after buying an additional 10,695 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 50.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 59,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,677,000 after acquiring an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 97.5% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 108,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,195,000 after acquiring an additional 53,780 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EMN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.86.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical 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 in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $98.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.33 and its 200 day moving average is $101.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $80.71 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 43.37%.

About Eastman Chemical

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.