East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 190.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,951 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $6,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% in 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 buying an additional 1,185,781 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler lifted 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on 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, Citigroup raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.8%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $136.14 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.67 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The company has a market capitalization of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $126.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.East West Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 707,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

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.