T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,677,553 shares of the company's stock after selling 139,529 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 4.51% of Eastern Bankshares worth $166,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,122,356 shares of the company's stock worth $347,111,000 after purchasing an additional 90,293 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,786,337 shares of the company's stock worth $324,064,000 after buying an additional 355,262 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,932,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,585,000 after buying an additional 259,476 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,080,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,638,000 after acquiring an additional 960,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,028,897 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,498,000 after acquiring an additional 59,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,178,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,333. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.16. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.54 and a 12-month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $226.98 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. On average, equities analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is presently 71.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.