Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,393,923 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,731 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.66% of Eastern Bankshares worth $25,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EBC. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.13.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 5.6%

EBC opened at $19.56 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.51 and a 52 week high of $22.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.71 and a beta of 0.81.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.09 million. On average, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at $206,064.70. The trade was a 51.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total value of $427,458.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $419,494.60. The trade was a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.