East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Update

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,340,000 shares, a growth of 33.5% from the March 15th total of 3,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.97. 1,479,100 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 927,892. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.76. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.46.

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.