Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,984 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $6,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 70,692 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $310,628,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,093,000 after acquiring an additional 83,504 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 15.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 947,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $106,070,000 after acquiring an additional 126,301 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $92.10 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $80.71 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.17. The firm has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

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.