Twinbeech Capital LP Takes Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,766,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 102,281 shares of company stock valued at $9,473,478. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 3.9%

EWBC opened at $90.67 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.53. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EWBC. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.85.

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.