Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 23.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.08% of Eastern Bankshares worth $2,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $172,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.68, for a total transaction of $36,816.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,187 shares in the company, valued at $426,292.16. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.33. 710,793 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,180,633. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.01 and a beta of 0.95. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.85 and a 1 year high of $19.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 15.56% and a positive return on equity of 6.42%. On average, research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. 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.