Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,800 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Eastern Bankshares were worth $30,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth about $25,000. PFS Partners LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter worth $35,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 1,155.9% during the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares in the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EBC opened at $17.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.92. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.22 and a twelve month high of $19.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.63 and a 200 day moving average of $16.06.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $299.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.92 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 4.49% and a net margin of 38.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Deborah C. Jackson sold 5,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $106,033.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,791.04. This represents a 7.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

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.