East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,538,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 62,201 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.12% of East West Bancorp worth $172,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth $26,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth $31,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 115.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $133.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $132.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,842.68. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 12,021 shares of company stock worth $1,474,277 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

EWBC opened at $123.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $112.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.31. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.21 and a 12 month high of $127.51.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 31.97%.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.

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