Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,071 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,472 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $134,000. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $178,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at $174,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $15.96. 3,424,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,506,756. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.51 and a fifty-two week high of $19.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.48 and a beta of 0.94.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.41 EPS 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 positive return on equity of 7.38% and a negative net margin of 6.49%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. 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 Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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.

Eastern Bankshares 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.