Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 8,047 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 455,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,047 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.33% of East West Bancorp worth $40,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.3% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 39,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,525,000 after buying an additional 7,930 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.2% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,539,000 after buying an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 14.0% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 8,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of East West Bancorp 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 directly owns 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. The trade was 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 East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EWBC. Barclays boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $2.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $97.51. 848,610 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 928,761. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.33. The company has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. As a group, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.64%.

East West Bancorp Company 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.