William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys New Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,547,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,427,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 32.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 27,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.4% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 179,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,739,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.0% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC opened at $22.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $22.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.95 and a 1 year high of $23.77.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $316.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens cut shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total value of $236,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 82,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,705.98. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 13,419 shares of company stock valued at $312,581 over the last ninety days. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.