T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 139,529 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,677,553 shares of the company's stock after selling 139,529 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 4.51% of Eastern Bankshares worth $166,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $172,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $178,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.94. 897,384 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,084,031. The company's 50-day moving average is $15.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.15. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.54 and a 52-week high of $19.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.96.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is 71.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.