Fmr LLC Buys 4,913,376 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

FMR LLC raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 36.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,431,075 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,913,376 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned approximately 8.59% of Eastern Bankshares worth $302,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 5.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 103,320 shares of the company's stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 5,481 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $182,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $245,000. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 127.0% in the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 43,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 24,480 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.6% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 225,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,146,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $18.64. 422,090 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 945,477. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.86 and a 52 week high of $19.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average price is $17.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.76.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 38.00% and a return on equity of 4.49%. The business had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.69%.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

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.