Matthew 25 Management Corp Lowers Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Matthew 25 Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 10.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 107,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the quarter. East West Bancorp comprises 3.5% of Matthew 25 Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Matthew 25 Management Corp’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $11,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3,842.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 14,411 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,381,000 after buying an additional 96,760 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 156.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 37,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after buying an additional 23,125 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,505,000 after buying an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2,084.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,665,000 after buying an additional 50,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $106.32 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.54 and its 200 day moving average is $109.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 12,547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total transaction of $1,442,905.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,714,205. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $221,058.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 119,065 shares of company stock worth $13,857,314 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.