1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EBC. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 21,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 3,634 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 283.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 86,819 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted 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 purchasing an additional 65,764 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter worth $522,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 12.5% during the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $16.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 0.95. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $12.22 and a one year high of $19.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.34.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 6.02%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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.