Squarepoint Ops LLC Grows Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 2,265.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,318 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 257,932 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Eastern Bankshares worth $4,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EBC. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $169,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter worth about $8,768,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 205,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,365,000 after buying an additional 2,977 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,019,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,522,000 after buying an additional 1,087,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,847,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,297,000 after buying an additional 91,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EBC. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastern Bankshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $6,142,332.13. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,211.36. The trade was a 89.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.08 per share, with a total value of $170,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $512,400. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ EBC opened at $19.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.92 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $20.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.90.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $162.26 million during the quarter. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 4.97% and a return on equity of 7.94%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 208.00%.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

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.