East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised East West Bancorp’s price target to $164 from $160 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 29.38% potential upside from the stock’s $126.75 price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $144.85, supported by multiple recent target increases.
• East West Bancorp exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.63 in EPS and $789.98 million in revenue, with year-over-year revenue growth of 12.5%; however, insiders sold 11,810 shares worth $1.56 million over the past quarter.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $160.00 to $164.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 29.38% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $148.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $152.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.85.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $126.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 78,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,995. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.18. The stock has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. The trade was a 21.29% 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 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 25.2% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,779 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 81,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,480,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc NASDAQ: EWBC is the holding company for East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through its East West Bank subsidiary.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, wealth management, treasury management, and international banking services. Its products support commercial real estate, commercial and industrial businesses, residential borrowers, and consumers.

The bank has a particular focus on serving communities and businesses connected to the United States and Greater China.

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