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

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Joseph Casey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total value of $236,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 92,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,174,905.98. This represents a 9.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,601,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,551,703. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.74 and a 1-year high of $23.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.91.

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

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EBC. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $498,672,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,407,066 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,552,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,048,000 after purchasing an additional 939,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,389,304 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.