East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by CI Investments Inc.

CI Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 410,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,866 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $43,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EWBC. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $125.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stephens boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.21.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,894.36. This trade represents a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.3%

EWBC opened at $110.91 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $116.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.28.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

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.