East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lessened its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $527,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 123,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,424 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,352,000 after purchasing an additional 68,528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Truist Financial began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $101.11 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.26. The firm has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. On average, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 928,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About East West Bancorp

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.