Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Stock: State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Holdings

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,712 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EBC. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 42.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,124,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603,128 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,290,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,203 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter valued at $77,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $309,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $380,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $22.11 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.61 and a 12-month high of $23.77. The company has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.70.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $311.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.60 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%. Equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total value of $492,997.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,567.95. This represents a 50.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Casey sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $227,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 62,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,410,434.88. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 65,190 shares of company stock worth $1,452,900 over the last three months. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ:EBC) is the holding company for Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1818, Eastern Bank is one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States to have converted to public ownership.

Eastern Bank provides a range of personal and business banking products, including checking and savings accounts, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, commercial loans, cash-management services and online banking.