Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Acquires New Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,359,511,000 after purchasing an additional 70,503 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $765,167,000 after purchasing an additional 107,665 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,652,000 after acquiring an additional 183,675 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $108.20 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% 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.

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.

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