Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) CAO Sells 10,000 Shares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $21.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,805,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,268,152. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.98. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.51 and a fifty-two week high of $22.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 52.32 and a beta of 0.81.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 126.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,254,000 after buying an additional 54,664 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $954,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 114,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 5,028 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 432,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,091,000 after purchasing an additional 29,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after buying an additional 484,277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.