Millennium Management LLC Acquires 603,991 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 203.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 900,442 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 603,991 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.42% of Eastern Bankshares worth $15,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $172,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth about $178,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $14.93. 158,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,127,921. The company's 50 day moving average is $15.29 and its 200 day moving average is $16.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.97. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $12.66 and a one year high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. Research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This is a boost 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 3.48%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -80.00%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total transaction of $36,628.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.