Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 283.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 117,474 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,819 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 24.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,835,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,599,000 after purchasing an additional 950,150 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 11.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,795,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,300,000 after purchasing an additional 401,027 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 58.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,079,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,065,000 after purchasing an additional 764,881 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $23,849,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,064,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,888,000 after acquiring an additional 32,741 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 1.6 %

EBC opened at $18.83 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.59. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.86 and a fifty-two week high of $19.15.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. The firm had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eastern Bankshares from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Eastern Bankshares news, President Quincy Lee Miller sold 12,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $211,182.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.