Citigroup Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 32.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,413 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 62,189 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.12% of Eastern Bankshares worth $4,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $23,849,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,079,028 shares of the company's stock worth $29,065,000 after purchasing an additional 764,881 shares in the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth $6,717,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company's stock worth $65,061,000 after purchasing an additional 467,663 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

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

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of EBC stock traded up $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $18.19. The company had a trading volume of 747,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 998,648. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.81. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.22 and a twelve month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm earned $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is currently 18.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th.

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.