Abacus Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Key Points

• Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired 20,660 shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. valued at approximately $339,000 during the first quarter.
• Eastern Bankshares has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.32%.
• Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have reduced their price target for Eastern Bankshares from $22.00 to $20.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating.

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EBC. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 92.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 836.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the first quarter worth about $134,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter worth about $169,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 2,348 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.60, for a total value of $36,628.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $452,571.60. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Eastern Bankshares stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $15.18. 315,171 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,368,608. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $15.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.91 and a beta of 0.94. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.51 and a 1-year high of $19.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a negative net margin of 6.49% and a positive return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $249.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.32 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Eastern Bankshares's payout ratio is -167.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.