Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Shares Sold by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC reduced its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 48.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,559 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,620 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $23,849,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company's stock worth $67,599,000 after acquiring an additional 950,150 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,079,028 shares of the company's stock worth $29,065,000 after buying an additional 764,881 shares during the period. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,717,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,795,493 shares of the company's stock worth $52,300,000 after buying an additional 401,027 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.83. 1,112,983 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,046,070. The stock's 50 day moving average is $17.04 and its 200 day moving average is $15.57. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.86 and a 12-month high of $19.15. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The business 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $19.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th.

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.