Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Acquires 146,500 Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 293.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 146,500 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE owned approximately 0.09% of Eastern Bankshares worth $3,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,431,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,085,000 after buying an additional 4,913,376 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 595.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,730,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481,889 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 20.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,940,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,587,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,203,000 after purchasing an additional 859,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 284.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 617,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,118,000 after purchasing an additional 456,586 shares during the period. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:EBC opened at $16.76 on Thursday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $12.22 and a one year high of $19.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01 and a beta of 0.95.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 11.07%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern Bankshares news, CFO R David Rosato purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.40 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $308,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (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.