William Blair Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 5.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,088,278 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,538 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $37,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the last quarter. Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at $206,064.70. This represents a 51.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total transaction of $427,458.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,494.60. This represents a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 5.6%

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $19.56 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.71 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.51 and a 12 month high of $22.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.66.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 8.32%.The firm had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.09 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 126.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EBC. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.13.

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.