32,242 Shares in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Acquired by Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 32,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EBC. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens lowered Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $22.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.68. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.50 and a 52 week high of $23.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.55 and a 200 day moving average of $20.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 34.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph F. 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 62,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,410,434.88. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,419 shares of company stock worth $769,381. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Profile

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.