Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Shares Sold by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 75.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,122 shares of the company’s stock after selling 99,489 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,381,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,666,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,471 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 165,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 56,291 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $232,000. Finally, Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,499,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of EBC stock opened at $15.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $15.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.00. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.66 and a 12-month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released 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. The business had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. On average, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -80.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report 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.