Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Grows Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 1,155.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,333 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $16.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.49 and a 200 day moving average of $14.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $10.65 and a one year high of $17.49.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 5.06% and a net margin of 48.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 20.69%.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.