Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 5,576 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,576 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $692,468,000 after purchasing an additional 4,696,157 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,733,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,843,000 after purchasing an additional 314,262 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,005,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,525,000 after buying an additional 46,717 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,739,000 after buying an additional 32,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $137,390,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $103.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.45 and its 200-day moving average is $100.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%. Equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.08.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 45,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,820. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.21, for a total transaction of $102,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,076 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,867.96. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 42,220 shares of company stock valued at $4,446,088 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.