BNP Paribas Financial Markets Invests $498,000 in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 28,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $172,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.07. 917,602 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,131,736. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $15.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.91. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.66 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 0.97.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. The company had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -80.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $36,628.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares 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.