East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Irene H. Oh Sells 7,639 Shares

Key Points

• Irene Oh, an insider at East West Bancorp, sold 7,639 shares at an average price of $109.40, totaling approximately $835,706.60, reducing her ownership by 6.74% to 105,714 shares.
• East West Bancorp reported quarterly earnings of $2.28 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a 10.3% increase in revenue year-over-year to $705 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, yielding an annualized rate of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 28.04%.

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $835,706.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 105,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,565,111.60. The trade was a 6.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,045,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,968. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.East West Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 386,417 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,003,000 after purchasing an additional 4,977 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $447,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.