Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Shares Purchased by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 62,365.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,860 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,817 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,196,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,080,479 shares of the company's stock worth $87,638,000 after acquiring an additional 960,591 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 284.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 617,306 shares of the company's stock worth $10,118,000 after acquiring an additional 456,586 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,286,789 shares of the company's stock worth $39,447,000 after acquiring an additional 442,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,786,337 shares of the company's stock worth $324,064,000 after acquiring an additional 355,262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $15.34. 35,448 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,120,373. The business's 50-day moving average price is $15.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91 and a beta of 0.97. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.66 and a 1 year high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. The business had revenue of $222.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.98 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is presently -80.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.68, for a total value of $36,816.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $426,292.16. This represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $308,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.