East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $150.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.68% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on EWBC. TD Cowen raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.15.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of EWBC opened at $131.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.37. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $98.72 and a twelve month high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.75%. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,629 shares in the company, valued at $1,386,021.60. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 723,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,610,000 after acquiring an additional 9,185 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 16.1% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,760,000 after purchasing an additional 8,672 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 49.0% during the third quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 2,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 26.3% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 144.9% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 15,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 9,234 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is the holding company for East West Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank initially served Chinese American communities in Southern California and has since expanded its services and geographic reach.

East West Bank provides personal and business banking, commercial lending, trade finance, treasury management and other financial services. Its customers include individuals, small and midsize businesses, and larger companies, with a focus on supporting commerce between the United States and Asia.

The bank operates across several U.S.