Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Joseph Casey sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $227,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 62,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,410,434.88. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of EBC stock traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $22.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,349,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,532,387. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.52 and a 200-day moving average of $20.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.50 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $316.01 million for 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $498,672,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 2,062.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,790,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,776,000 after acquiring an additional 5,522,534 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,066,000 after purchasing an additional 4,835,474 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,018,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EBC shares. Wall Street Zen raised Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Hovde Group raised their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens cut Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.86.

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.