American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 9.3%, acquiring an additional 24,074 shares, and now owns 0.20% of the company valued at approximately $25 million.
• Other institutional investors also boosted their holdings in East West Bancorp, including Invesco Ltd., which raised its stake by 155.6% during the same period.
• East West Bancorp reported a quarterly EPS of $2.28, exceeding analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 with an annualized yield of 2.3%.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,074 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.20% of East West Bancorp worth $25,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 155.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $692,468,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696,157 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $83,330,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 203.0% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 817,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,361,000 after acquiring an additional 547,556 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10,357.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 367,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,985,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,876,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $179,688,000 after acquiring an additional 324,410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $105.20 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $102.42 and its 200-day moving average is $93.68. The company has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million for 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%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Profile

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.

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