Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Increases Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 874,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 284,617 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $98,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,210,000 after purchasing an additional 19,539 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after purchasing an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,523,000 after purchasing an additional 27,402 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,800 shares of company stock worth $5,165,690. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $125.21 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $90.32 and a one year high of $127.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.63 and a 200 day moving average of $114.55. The company has a market capitalization of $17.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The company had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

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.