Northstar Asset Management Inc. Trims Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 434,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,569 shares during the period. Eastern Bankshares accounts for about 1.7% of Northstar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Northstar Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Eastern Bankshares worth $7,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% during the third 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. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $16.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.24 and a 1 year high of $17.49.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 38.00%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 18.97%.

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.