27,751 Shares in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 3,049.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 29,766 shares of the company's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 28,821 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $311,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 165,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 56,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 402,624 shares of the company's stock worth $6,945,000 after buying an additional 86,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total transaction of $36,628.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,011 shares in the company, valued at $452,571.60. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.24. 898,501 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,369,473. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.51 and a 12-month high of $19.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $15.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.01.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $249.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.32 million. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 6.49% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -167.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.