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

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Joseph Casey sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total value of $236,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 92,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,174,905.98. This trade represents a 9.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ EBC opened at $22.74 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.74 and a 12 month high of $23.77. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.93.

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

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $498,672,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407,066 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,552,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,048,000 after buying an additional 939,740 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,919,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,385,000 after buying an additional 1,389,304 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EBC has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group raised their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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.