Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,587,497 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 859,136 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.14% of Eastern Bankshares worth $75,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 284.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 617,306 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,118,000 after purchasing an additional 456,586 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $180,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth $232,000. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on EBC
In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Shares of EBC opened at $17.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $17.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.16. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $19.40.
Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.69%.
Eastern Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.
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