Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Holdings Reduced by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 29.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,685,231 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,132,745 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 1.25% of Eastern Bankshares worth $44,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 123.7% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 37,585 shares of the company's stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 20,781 shares during the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 659.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 81,834 shares of the company's stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 71,053 shares during the last quarter. Kitching Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $322,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 559.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 327,414 shares of the company's stock worth $5,366,000 after purchasing an additional 277,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $305,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.5 %

EBC stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.17. The stock had a trading volume of 537,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,075. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.85.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is 20.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.