Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 2,508 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

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

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 470.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 6,235 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $1,072,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $639,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,317,000 after buying an additional 3,460 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.85.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 directly owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded down $1.19 on Friday, hitting $106.95. 814,626 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 932,930. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The firm's 50 day moving average is $95.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.82.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

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.