Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 10,223 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its East West Bancorp stake by 56.8%, selling 10,223 shares and retaining 7,777 shares valued at approximately $964,000. Institutional investors collectively own 89.53% of the company.
• East West Bancorp reported quarterly EPS of $2.76, beating estimates of $2.72, while revenue rose 5.8% year over year to $822.72 million.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $144.38 target price, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, representing a 2.4% yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 56.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,223 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Curated Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $370,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 216,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,820,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 7,433.6% in the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 9,069 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total value of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 11,810 shares of company stock worth $1,564,344 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $146.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Stephens lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $132.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.98. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.08 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.68 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 30.77%.

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.

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