East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Sells $848,896.70 in Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene Oh sold 7,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total transaction of $848,896.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,714 shares in the company, valued at $9,762,824.60. This represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

EWBC opened at $115.42 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $105.87 and a 200 day moving average of $104.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $117.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.92.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Cowen started coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.