East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stake Lifted by Carmel Capital Management L.L.C.

Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. East West Bancorp accounts for about 4.4% of Carmel Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.09% of East West Bancorp worth $10,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after purchasing an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $765,167,000 after buying an additional 107,665 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,052,000 after buying an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,652,000 after acquiring an additional 183,675 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.38.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $108.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $93.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.42.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

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

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.