Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) President Quincy Lee Miller Sells 33,000 Shares of Company Stock

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) President Quincy Miller sold 33,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.88, for a total transaction of $755,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 33,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $767,349.44. This trade represents a 49.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.2%

EBC stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $23.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,886,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,478,790. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.70. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.03 and a 12 month high of $23.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.14.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $311.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.60 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 24.04% and a return on equity of 9.37%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.48%.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EBC. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 17.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 70.4% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 13.1% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 213,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,465,000 after purchasing an additional 24,680 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 51.0% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 46,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 15,759 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 11,985 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, October 26th. Hovde Group upped their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens downgraded Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $26.00 price objective on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.14.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston. The company provides personal and business banking services, including deposit accounts, loans, cash management and digital banking.

Through its banking and affiliated businesses, Eastern also offers commercial lending, wealth management and insurance services. Its operations primarily serve businesses, individuals and organizations in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Eastern Bank traces its roots to 1818 and operated as a mutual bank for more than two centuries before becoming publicly traded in 2020.