Brown Advisory Inc. Acquires 217,701 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,710,634 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 217,701 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 1.73% of Eastern Bankshares worth $64,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 24,234 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,971 shares of the company's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 2,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EBC traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $15.21. 1,178,152 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,113,254. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day moving average is $15.50 and its 200 day moving average is $17.03. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.66 and a 52 week high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. The firm had revenue of $222.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. Analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is presently -80.00%.

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.