Edgestream Partners L.P. Increases Stock Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 148.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,582 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 91,777 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.07% of Eastern Bankshares worth $2,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $172,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 29,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.3%

EBC traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,369,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,204. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of -24.63 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $19.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $15.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 15.56% and a positive return on equity of 6.42%. The company had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently -80.00%.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.