Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 99,489 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 75.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,122 shares of the company's stock after selling 99,489 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,778 shares of the company's stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,791 shares of the company's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 2,196 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 301,626 shares of the company's stock worth $5,203,000 after buying an additional 2,887 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 381,764 shares of the company's stock worth $6,585,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of EBC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.78. 728,827 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,128,750. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06 and a beta of 0.97. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.66 and a 12-month high of $19.40. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $15.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is currently -80.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Eastern Bankshares Company 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.