East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,629 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 17.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,228 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $836,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 8.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 77,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,308,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 221.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,803,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,792,000 after acquiring an additional 86,848 shares in 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 Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on 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 owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $72.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.70. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.12 and a 12-month high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $654.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.15.

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.