Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 764,881 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,079,028 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 764,881 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.18% of Eastern Bankshares worth $29,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,452 shares of the company's stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,866 shares of the company's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 257,492 shares of the company's stock worth $3,600,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ EBC traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,559,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,026,605. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.65 and a 12 month high of $17.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $232.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.45 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 48.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is 15.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

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.