Blue Trust Inc. Has $580,000 Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 170.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,075 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in East West Bancorp by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 17,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 656 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 traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $98.83. 585,885 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 930,459. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.33. 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 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 928,314 shares in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares in the company, 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.

East West Bancorp Profile

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.