Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 992,160 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. $EBC

Key Points

• Jennison Associates boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 23% in Q4, buying 992,160 shares to own 5,311,122 shares (about 2.52%) valued at roughly $97.9 million.
• Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $22.70 target (1 Strong Buy, 4 Buy, 3 Hold), though several firms recently trimmed targets to $22 and issued mixed coverage.
• Eastern raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 (annualized $0.60), implying a 3.0% yield, with an ex-dividend date of June 5 and payment on June 22.

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC - Free Report) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,311,122 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 992,160 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 2.52% of Eastern Bankshares worth $97,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 41,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 3,122 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 33,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 2,746 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 42,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 10,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,362,000 after buying an additional 1,292,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EBC. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $23.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.70.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

EBC stock opened at $20.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $295.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 26.28%. Equities analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Eastern Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.21%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at $206,064.70. This trade represents a 51.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.17 per share, with a total value of $95,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $862,650. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.

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