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

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 198,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,330 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $22,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.8% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.8% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 3,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.8% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $104.23 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $80.71 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $106.29 and a 200-day moving average of $101.68.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EMN. StockNews.com lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.86.

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.