Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $2.20 Million Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,364 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,590 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $2,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EBC. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $522,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 19.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,000,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,781,000 after buying an additional 329,133 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 253,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,153,000 after buying an additional 62,189 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,431,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,085,000 after acquiring an additional 4,913,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of EBC opened at $16.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.54 and a 200 day moving average of $17.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 0.95. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.22 and a 12 month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 71.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares 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.