Systematic Financial Management LP Purchases 60,826 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,791,465 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,826 shares during the quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP owned 0.83% of Eastern Bankshares worth $30,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,815,393 shares of the company's stock worth $31,316,000 after buying an additional 223,681 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth about $37,196,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $311,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 479.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 36,344 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.68, for a total value of $36,816.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $426,292.16. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $14.96. 241,431 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,124,098. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.98. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.66 and a 12 month high of $19.40.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. The business had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is presently -80.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

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.