Barclays PLC Buys 456,586 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Barclays PLC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 284.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 617,306 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 456,586 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.29% of Eastern Bankshares worth $10,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of EBC stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.79. 1,258,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 994,852. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average is $17.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.12.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $0.12 dividend. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total value of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. The trade was a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.