Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 59,339 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,028,897 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 59,339 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 1.88% of Eastern Bankshares worth $69,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.0% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 378,564 shares of the company's stock worth $6,205,000 after buying an additional 65,764 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,943,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company's stock worth $113,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,276 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,591,712 shares of the company's stock worth $26,088,000 after acquiring an additional 86,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.7% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 815,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,367,000 after purchasing an additional 65,540 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owns 67,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.84. The company had a trading volume of 720,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,166. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50 day moving average price is $17.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.05.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. On average, research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

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.