East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. by 16.4%, selling 69,303 shares, leaving them with approximately $35.7 million in ownership.
• Analysts are optimistic about East West Bancorp, with twelve recommending a Buy rating, leading to a consensus price target of $121.33 per share.
• East West Bancorp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, indicating a 2.5% yield based on its current stock price.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 16.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 353,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 69,303 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of East West Bancorp worth $35,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 126.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 470.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial set a $112.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.33.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $95.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. Sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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 2.5%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total transaction of $1,606,393.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 113,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last 90 days. 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.

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