East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Lowered to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on EWBC. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of EWBC stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 434,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 921,423. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $12.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $85.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.35. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,281 shares of company stock worth $9,473,478 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

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.