Piper Sandler Lowers East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $111.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Piper Sandler from $116.00 to $111.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.67% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $125.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.93.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $106.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $123.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.36.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The firm had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,842.68. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,894.36. The trade was a 23.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 60,221 shares of company stock valued at $7,139,287 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,981,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,822,000 after buying an additional 106,998 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,620,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,329,000 after buying an additional 306,916 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,713,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,619,000 after acquiring an additional 318,303 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.