BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 107.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 161,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,474 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $18,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at $177,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 36,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,042,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at about $231,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 11.3% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.1% during the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

EMN opened at $104.72 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.71. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.86.

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.