Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 167 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $75,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.7% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $98.08 on Thursday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $85.28 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

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.