14,166 Shares in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Bought by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 14,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of EBC. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,431,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,085,000 after buying an additional 4,913,376 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,276 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,599,000 after purchasing an additional 950,150 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,061,000 after purchasing an additional 467,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,339,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,343,000 after buying an additional 260,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.2 %

EBC opened at $17.95 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.22 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.04.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. The company had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.