Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,498 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 17,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,740 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.0% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.9%

EWBC stock opened at $115.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $105.34 and a 200-day moving average of $104.16. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $117.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 15.55%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 26.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $1,017,325.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. This represents a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total transaction of $3,408,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 858,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,530,219.82. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EWBC. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 15th. Cowen assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.08.

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.