East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stake Reduced by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 763,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 158,459 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.55% of East West Bancorp worth $73,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $95.50. The stock had a trading volume of 590,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,245. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.64. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,281 shares of company stock worth $9,473,478. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.