Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Purchases New Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension opened a new position in East West Bancorp, buying 212,197 shares worth about $23.85 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their stakes, and hedge funds and institutions now own 89.53% of the bank’s shares.
• Analysts remain constructive on EWBC: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a consensus price target of $132.36, while the company also reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations in its latest quarter.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 212,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,849,000. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned about 0.15% of East West Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $459,210,000 after purchasing an additional 19,539 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $412,464,000 after purchasing an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in East West Bancorp by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $361,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334,429 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in East West Bancorp by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,051,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $207,146,000 after purchasing an additional 391,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,704,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $181,402,000 after purchasing an additional 8,342 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $132.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting East West Bancorp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several EPS estimates for East West Bancorp (EWBC), including FY2026 to $10.40 and FY2028 to $11.79, signaling improving earnings expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company was highlighted as a strong momentum stock, which may attract traders looking for stocks with favorable technical and style-score characteristics. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A MarketBeat week-in-review piece noted a broader market recovery and said earnings season could be a catalyst for stocks, but it did not provide company-specific news for EWBC. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: One article discussed EWBC as a possible high-growth dividend stock, but it was framed as an evaluation rather than a new corporate development. Article Title

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $120.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.26 and a fifty-two week high of $127.51. The stock has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $113.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.43.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The business had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 31.97%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.

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