Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 9,130 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,130 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth about $151,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $164,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 4,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $282,000. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 40,288 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.08, for a total transaction of $526,967.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,883.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $12.92 on Thursday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.93 and a 1 year high of $15.07. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.07 and its 200 day moving average is $13.10.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 49.59%. The company had revenue of $230.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

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.