Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Takes Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 6,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $818,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,523,000 after purchasing an additional 27,402 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,046,000 after buying an additional 20,264 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 199,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,440,000 after buying an additional 17,486 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,516,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EWBC. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.92.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 84,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,511 shares of company stock worth $4,312,741. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of EWBC opened at $130.40 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.67 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $131.43 and a 200 day moving average of $121.80. The firm has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

About East West Bancorp

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.