Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 86,819 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 283.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,474 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 86,819 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.05% of Eastern Bankshares worth $1,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 3,988 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $211,182.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.1 %

Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $19.22. The stock had a trading volume of 658,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,005,216. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $17.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.59. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.86 and a 12-month high of $19.40.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The firm 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 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is 18.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $19.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 29th.

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.