RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EBC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,122,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,111,000 after acquiring an additional 90,293 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $113,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,587,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,203,000 after buying an additional 859,136 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,028,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,498,000 after buying an additional 59,339 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Eastern Bankshares by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,505,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,221,000 after buying an additional 60,746 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $16.50 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.37. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.