East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.1%, owning approximately 0.24% of the company after selling 3,560 shares.
• East West Bancorp reported a 10.3% year-over-year increase in revenue, with $2.28 EPS for the quarter, surpassing forecasts.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60, yielding 2.3%, with an annualized payout of $2.40.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lessened its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 332,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,560 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.24% of East West Bancorp worth $29,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded down $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $105.96. 645,211 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,011,625. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. East West Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

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.