Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Geode Capital Management LLC has enhanced its position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 23.0% during the third quarter, as disclosed in their recent filing with the SEC. Following this increase, the institutional investor now holds a total of 4,587,497 shares of Eastern Bankshares after purchasing an additional 859,136 shares throughout the quarter. As of this latest filing, Geode Capital Management LLC’s ownership accounts for about 2.14% of Eastern Bankshares, valued at approximately $75,203,000.

In addition to Geode Capital Management, several other hedge funds have also adjusted their holdings in Eastern Bankshares. Notably, M&T Bank Corp has acquired a new stake valued at around $511,000 during the third quarter. Barclays PLC significantly boosted its investment by 284.1%, now holding 617,306 shares worth $10,118,000 after adding 456,586 shares. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake by 127.8% during the same period and holds 1,800 shares valued at $30,000. Other investors include Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC, which purchased a new stake worth $180,000, and EP Wealth Advisors LLC, which acquired a position valued at $232,000. Collectively, hedge funds and institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Expect Positive Growth for Eastern Bankshares

In a separate development, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods recently raised their target price for Eastern Bankshares from $19.00 to $21.00, endorsing the company with an “outperform” ranking in a research note issued on December 4th.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

Director Deborah C. Jackson was involved in a stock transaction, selling 5,713 shares on December 2nd at an average price of $18.56, totaling $106,033.28. Following this transaction, Jackson owns 67,284 shares valued at $1,248,791.04, which represents a decrease of 7.83% in their ownership. This sale has been disclosed in a filing with the SEC, where corporate insiders control 1.15% of the shares.

Stock Performance of Eastern Bankshares

As for the stock performance, shares of EBC began trading at $17.26 on Friday. The company boasts a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.92. Eastern Bankshares’ 50-day moving average stands at $17.74, while the two-hundred day moving average is $16.16. The stock has recorded a 52-week low of $12.22 and a high of $19.40.

Eastern Bankshares last reported its quarterly earnings on October 24th, revealing earnings of $0.25 per share, falling short of analysts’ estimate of $0.33 by $0.08. The company achieved revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, surpassing expectations of $215.92 million, and demonstrated a net margin of 38.00% with a return on equity of 4.49%. Analysts predict an average earnings per share of 0.98 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Announcement by Eastern Bankshares

Recently, Eastern Bankshares declared a quarterly dividend, paid on December 16th. Shareholders on record as of December 3rd received a dividend of $0.12, which corresponds to an annualized dividend of $0.48, resulting in a yield of 2.78%. This represents an increase from their previous dividend of $0.11, with an ex-dividend date set for December 3rd. The company's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Overview of Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc functions as the holding company for Eastern Bank, providing a range of banking services tailored for retail, commercial, and small business customers. Their services include various deposit accounts, interest checking, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit.

Geode, Investment, EasternBankshares