Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 76.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,330 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Eastman Chemical worth $22,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 13.5% in 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 during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 119.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 39,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,939,000 after buying an additional 6,126 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EMN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction 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 $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $104.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.71 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.68. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.