Man Group plc Has $5.09 Million Stock Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Man Group plc cut its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 295,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,689 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.14% of Eastern Bankshares worth $5,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 21,621 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,815,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,316,000 after buying an additional 223,681 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $37,196,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $311,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 479.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 36,344 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC stock opened at $15.57 on Wednesday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.66 and a 52-week high of $19.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24 and a beta of 0.97.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $226.98 million. Equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -80.00%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total transaction of $36,628.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.