Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,587,497 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 859,136 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.14% of Eastern Bankshares worth $75,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,431,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,085,000 after buying an additional 4,913,376 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,276 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,599,000 after acquiring an additional 950,150 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company's stock worth $65,061,000 after purchasing an additional 467,663 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,339,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,343,000 after purchasing an additional 260,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EBC opened at $17.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.92. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.16.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total value of $106,033.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastern Bankshares 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.