East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,400 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $7,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Denali Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in East West Bancorp by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in East West Bancorp by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 63,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.42.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $75.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.12 and a 52-week high of $79.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.28.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $654.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.89%.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.