Insider Selling: East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Sells 800 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene Oh sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total value of $106,552.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at $11,280,926.62. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $130.62. 1,057,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,034,670. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.84. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.79 and a 1 year high of $136.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 115.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

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.