Financial Perspectives Inc Acquires 238 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.1 %

EWBC stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.30. 1,417,760 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,214,775. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.12 and a 1 year high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $654.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 18.47%. East West Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 26.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.42.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.