East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Rating Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $153.00 target price for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.71.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $131.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $128.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.80. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $98.72 and a one year high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 10.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 35,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.57, for a total value of $4,572,953.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 637,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,294,520.10. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 70,810 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,738 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $1,744,958,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,624,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $449,166,000 after purchasing an additional 50,049 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,652,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,915,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,470,000 after purchasing an additional 168,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $130,744,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

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.