Swiss National Bank Purchases 65,764 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 21.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 378,564 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 65,764 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.18% of Eastern Bankshares worth $6,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 818,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,164 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth approximately $302,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 65,540 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 283.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,474 shares of the company's stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 86,819 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $179,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 156,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,002,776. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.66. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $11.86 and a one year high of $19.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is 18.97%.

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.