Aureus Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 659.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,834 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 71,053 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,431,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,085,000 after buying an additional 4,913,376 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company's stock worth $67,599,000 after purchasing an additional 950,150 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,061,000 after acquiring an additional 467,663 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,339,389 shares of the company's stock worth $38,343,000 after purchasing an additional 260,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 19.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,000,042 shares of the company's stock worth $32,781,000 after purchasing an additional 329,133 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.57. The company had a trading volume of 771,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,000,289. The business's 50-day moving average is $17.24 and its 200 day moving average is $15.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.22 and a 12-month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.69%.

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.