Bayesian Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.46.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,416,694. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $89.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,516. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.67. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

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.