Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Position Lifted by Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC

Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 112.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,666,519 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,409,471 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC owned 1.24% of Eastern Bankshares worth $45,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EBC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,122,356 shares of the company's stock worth $347,111,000 after acquiring an additional 90,293 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,786,337 shares of the company's stock worth $324,064,000 after purchasing an additional 355,262 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,932,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,585,000 after purchasing an additional 259,476 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,080,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,638,000 after buying an additional 960,591 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,028,897 shares of the company's stock worth $69,498,000 after buying an additional 59,339 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EBC traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,178,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,254. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.66 and a 52-week high of $19.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $15.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.97.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. The business had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -80.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on 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 Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.