Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 131 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lessened its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In related 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 value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $98.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.24. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $85.28 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

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.