Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 1,515 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,587 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at $85,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the first quarter valued at $126,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $134,000. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at about $182,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $189,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $16.74 on Thursday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.65 and a 1 year high of $17.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 48.38% and a return on equity of 5.06%. The business had revenue of $232.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.