East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given New $135.00 Price Target at Barclays

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $110.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson dropped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research note on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $108.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,170,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,223. The company has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $94.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.63.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.64%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Davis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $655,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,594,000 after purchasing an additional 16,991 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,187,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $23,068,000. Institutional investors 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.