Point72 Asset Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 136,468 Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 136,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EBC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. PFS Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% in the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EBC opened at $17.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.92. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.22 and a 12 month high of $19.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.90.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $299.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is 20.69%.

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.