Irene Oh Sells 11,211 Shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene Oh sold 11,211 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,998 shares in the company, valued at $11,093,742. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $132.63 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.79 and a twelve month high of $132.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $121.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.59.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the fourth 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185,781 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the third 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, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,207,000 after acquiring an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

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.