GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 328 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd grew its position in East West Bancorp by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,572,270. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $835,706.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 105,714 shares in the company, valued at $11,565,111.60. This trade represents a 6.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.0%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $107.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a market capitalization of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The firm had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

East West Bancorp 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.