East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 793,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,618 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $84,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,185,781 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 633,649 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% in 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 buying an additional 542,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total value of $225,990.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock opened at $131.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.53. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $17.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $791.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.23.

East West Bancorp 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.