First Pacific Advisors LP Decreases Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

First Pacific Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,883 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,806 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,555 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of Eastern Bankshares 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 transaction, the director directly owned 29,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.96. 3,424,348 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,506,756. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $19.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.48 and a beta of 0.94. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $15.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.12.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 6.49% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $249.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.32 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Eastern Bankshares's 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.