Amalgamated Bank Has $5.70 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Amalgamated Bank cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,547 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,453 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,174,000 after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $1,072,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 470.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 6,235 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $639,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

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

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.5%

East West Bancorp stock traded up $2.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $107.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 832,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 929,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $92.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.27. The company has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.38.

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.