Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 8,506 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 20.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,717 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,506 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 21,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 3,634 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 283.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 86,819 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 378,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,205,000 after acquiring an additional 65,764 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 13.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,969,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,061,000 after purchasing an additional 467,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth approximately $522,000. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ EBC opened at $16.45 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.22 and a 12 month high of $19.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.58 and its 200 day moving average is $17.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. On average, analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.40 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $308,000. This trade represents 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 available through this hyperlink. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.