19,448 East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden cut its East West Bancorp stake by 4.6%, selling 19,448 shares in the third quarter; it retained 398,821 shares valued at about $49.4 million.
• East West Bancorp beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $2.76 versus $2.72 expected and revenue of $822.7 million, up 5.8% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $144.77; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 398,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,448 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.29% of East West Bancorp worth $49,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $134.06 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.72 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Truist Financial lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $146.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.77.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is the parent company of East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. The bank serves businesses, professionals, consumers and institutions through a range of deposit, lending and financial services.

Its products and services include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential and consumer lending, checking and savings accounts, treasury management, international banking, wealth management and foreign-exchange services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.