Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 33.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,068,837 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,025,522 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $33,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 5.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $17.99 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 0.92. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $12.22 and a one year high of $19.40.

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

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 20.69%.

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.