SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 36,344 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 479.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,929 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,344 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 21.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 378,564 shares of the company's stock worth $6,205,000 after purchasing an additional 65,764 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,943,000. 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,276 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 5.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,591,712 shares of the company's stock worth $26,088,000 after purchasing an additional 86,810 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total value of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 1.7 %

EBC stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.45. 1,417,358 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,014,082. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $12.22 and a one year high of $19.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.93.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. As a group, analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is 71.64%.

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.