Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Position Reduced by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 10.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,367,685 shares of the company's stock after selling 155,891 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.77% of Eastern Bankshares worth $19,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at $126,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $134,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $150,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of EBC traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $15.89. The stock had a trading volume of 712,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,014,658. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $16.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.48. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.65 and a 12-month high of $17.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 48.38%. The business had revenue of $232.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $157.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.44%.

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.