M3F Inc. Has $10.85 Million Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

M3F Inc. lessened its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 628,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,100 shares during the period. Eastern Bankshares accounts for about 3.1% of M3F Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. M3F Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $10,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBC. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $172,000. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R David Rosato bought 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC stock opened at $14.73 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $12.54 and a one year high of $19.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 0.96.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 71.64%.

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.