Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co has acquired a new stake in Element Solutions Inc (NYSE:ESI) during the fourth quarter, as revealed in its latest Securities & Exchange Commission disclosure. The investment firm purchased 27,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently adjusted their holdings in Element Solutions. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, now owning 22,244,795 shares valued at $565,685,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings by 4.2%, now owning 5,209,130 shares worth $132,468,000. Geode Capital Management LLC slightly increased its stake by 0.4%, now holding 3,555,852 shares valued at $90,456,000. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings by 11.4%, now owning 3,174,466 shares worth $80,727,000. Notably, JPMorgan Chase & Co. significantly boosted its position by 80.4%, now holding 2,921,021 shares valued at $74,282,000.
Currently, 92.32% of Element Solutions’ stock is owned by institutional investors. In contrast, insiders own 7.90% of the stock. Recently, Director Martin E. Franklin sold 2,000,000 shares in a transaction dated March 19th, reducing his stake by 94.83%.
Analyst Ratings and Forecasts
Several research firms have issued reports on ESI. Bank of America upgraded Element Solutions from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ while lowering their price target from $29.00 to $24.00. KeyCorp maintained an ‘overweight’ rating but lowered their price target from $29.00 to $28.00. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective from $30.00 to $24.00 and maintained a ‘neutral’ rating. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective from $34.00 to $30.00 with an ‘outperform’ rating. Barclays cut their target price from $30.00 to $27.00 and maintained an ‘overweight’ rating.
The average rating for Element Solutions is ‘Moderate Buy’ with an average price target of $26.38. The stock recently opened at $21.08. Element Solutions reported earnings per share of $0.34 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08, representing a 1.52% dividend yield.
