Voya Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 458,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,013 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.21% of Eastern Bankshares worth $7,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 284.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 617,306 shares of the company's stock worth $10,118,000 after purchasing an additional 456,586 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $220,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $761,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,591,712 shares of the company's stock worth $26,088,000 after buying an additional 86,810 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $308,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of EBC stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $15.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,442,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,099,910. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.66 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The stock's 50-day moving average is $15.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.96.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. Equities research analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -80.00%.

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.