Rockland Trust Co. Has $429,000 Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Rockland Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,500 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% during the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $17.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.67.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued 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). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 20.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.