HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 21,621 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 57.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,206 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,621 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EBC. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth approximately $180,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth approximately $220,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 2.6 %

EBC stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $16.32. The company had a trading volume of 985,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,035,224. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $19.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is 71.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

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.