Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 6,284 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 132.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,284 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 20,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 570,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,084,000 after purchasing an additional 32,970 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $221,058.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,152.05. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,021 shares of company stock valued at $7,365,277. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.36.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $125.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.21 and a 12-month high of $127.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.03.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.97%.

East West Bancorp 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.