Eastern Bank Decreases Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Eastern Bank lessened its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,302,653 shares of the company's stock after selling 94,170 shares during the period. Eastern Bank owned about 0.61% of Eastern Bankshares worth $21,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% in the 4th 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. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter worth approximately $169,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter worth $174,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $36,628.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,011 shares in the company, valued at $452,571.60. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 Stock Down 2.7%

EBC traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.03. 1,712,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,498,488. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $15.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.07. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.48 and a beta of 0.94.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $249.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $241.32 million. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 6.49% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. Equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently -167.74%.

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.