East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Stake Cut by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,840,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81,384 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of East West Bancorp worth $1,473,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.6% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 179.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at $643,842.68. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,807. This trade represents a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 120,585 shares of company stock valued at $14,016,504 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $121.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.58. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $123.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The business had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.14.

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.