East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Cantor Fitzgerald

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target trimmed by Cantor Fitzgerald from $152.00 to $146.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EWBC. Stephens lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.62.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $126.88 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $93.70 and a twelve month high of $137.47. The company has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.54 and its 200 day moving average is $126.21.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%. The business had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. East West Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 10.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This trade represents a 7.08% 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, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,248.38. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $1,744,958,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 9.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,915,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,470,000 after acquiring an additional 168,029 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $221,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $130,744,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,995,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank serves consumers, businesses, institutions and nonprofit organizations through a range of banking and financial services.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and residential real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, trade finance, treasury management, wealth management and other personal and business banking products.