Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) CAO David Andrew Ahlquist Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at $206,064.70. This represents a 51.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $21.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 52.79 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.00. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.51 and a 1-year high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $243.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.62%. On average, equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 126.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, December 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.13.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at about $79,534,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,680,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,362,000 after buying an additional 1,292,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,311,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,884,000 after buying an additional 992,160 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.