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

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,370,754 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,069 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $22,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,599,000 after acquiring an additional 950,150 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,061,000 after purchasing an additional 467,663 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,339,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,343,000 after purchasing an additional 260,361 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,000,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,781,000 after purchasing an additional 329,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,849,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $18.64 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.86 and a 1-year high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In related 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 transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

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.