East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause Sells 10,000 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total transaction of $1,235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $123.48 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.97. 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 52 week low of $88.97 and a 52 week high of $127.51.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in 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 valued at $596,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at 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 valued at $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 valued at $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 valued at $143,207,000 after acquiring an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson raised 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 report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average 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.