Northern Trust Corp Sells 13,447 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.1%, now owning approximately 0.88% of the company valued at $108.85 million.
• East West Bancorp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, with a 2.3% yield and a payout ratio of 28.04%.
• Despite a downgrade by Wall Street Zen to a "sell" rating, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average price target of $114.15.

Northern Trust Corp trimmed its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,212,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,447 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.88% of East West Bancorp worth $108,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 283,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,430,000 after buying an additional 24,074 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,654,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,376,000 after purchasing an additional 7,768 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.49 during trading on Thursday, reaching $105.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 382,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,009,775. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.77. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The company's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total transaction of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at $91,833,901.32. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.