Marshall Financial Group LLC Takes $2.15 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 19,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew 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 buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $103.53 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $113.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.51. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $123.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,807. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total transaction of $5,891,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at $95,237,558.42. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 60,221 shares of company stock worth $7,139,287 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.