Donald Michael Westermann Sells 23,005 Shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $483,567.95. The trade was a 50.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Donald Michael Westermann also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 1st, Donald Michael Westermann sold 10,407 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $226,560.39.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.51 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,986,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,506,249. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.70 and its 200-day moving average is $20.96. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $16.61 and a one year high of $23.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.66.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $308.20 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th 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 Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EBC has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group increased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Stephens lowered Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after acquiring an additional 54,664 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth about $954,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 4.6% during 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after purchasing an additional 484,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Company 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.