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

ARK Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 21.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 349 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909,740 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $121,847,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 318.2% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 701,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,516,000 after buying an additional 534,081 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,199,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,478,000 after acquiring an additional 217,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 752,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,623,000 after acquiring an additional 177,593 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 173,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.40. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $68.89 and a 1-year high of $105.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.46.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.07.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.