State of Wyoming Buys Shares of 27,510 Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

State of Wyoming bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 27,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,857 shares during the period. Algebris UK Ltd. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,514,000 after purchasing an additional 111,811 shares during the period. Minerva Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,153,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,447,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,319,000 after purchasing an additional 289,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $23.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.68. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.71 and a twelve month high of $23.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.84.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $316.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens cut shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Eastern Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares 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.