Systematic Financial Management LP Boosts Stock Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 595.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,730,639 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,481,889 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP owned approximately 0.81% of Eastern Bankshares worth $28,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 378,564 shares of the company's stock worth $6,205,000 after acquiring an additional 65,764 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,943,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 467,663 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 815,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,367,000 after buying an additional 65,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,849,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.08. 848,163 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 995,447. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $17.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.83. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). The firm 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is presently 20.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.