William Blair Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,505,539 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,746 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.17% of Eastern Bankshares worth $43,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EBC. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 127.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,800 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,595 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth $180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.59. 6,650,532 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,000,909. The business's 50-day moving average price is $17.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.34. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 0.95. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.22 and a 12-month high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.64%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.