Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires Shares of 10,991 Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,431,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,085,000 after buying an additional 4,913,376 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,276 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 12.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,339,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,343,000 after purchasing an additional 260,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Up 2.8 %

Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $17.26 on Friday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $19.40. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.16.

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

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 20.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 67,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,791.04. This trade represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.15% of the stock is 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.