Swiss National Bank Sells 5,300 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of East West Bancorp worth $26,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,820. The trade was a 18.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $835,706.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,714 shares in the company, valued at $11,565,111.60. The trade was a 6.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 22,139 shares of company stock worth $2,301,906 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $107.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.69. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $111.97. The company has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 15.55%. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

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.