New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 6,670 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 129,703 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,670 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Eastman Chemical worth $11,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 784.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,967 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.8% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business'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 $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EMN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.63. 727,019 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,114,921. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.21. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $85.28 and a 12-month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.