Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) CFO Buys $95,850.00 in Stock

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) CFO R David Rosato bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.17 per share, with a total value of $95,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,650. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of EBC opened at $18.97 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.82. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.27 and a beta of 0.81. 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 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 8.32%.The firm had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,018,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407,066 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,552,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,048,000 after purchasing an additional 939,740 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,919,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,385,000 after buying an additional 1,389,304 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,066,000 after buying an additional 4,835,474 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.