Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Invests $225,000 in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded down $1.19 on Friday, hitting $106.95. The company had a trading volume of 830,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 933,137. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. Research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 28.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% 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.

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.