State of Alaska Department of Revenue Buys 7,930 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 25.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,930 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $1.45 on Tuesday, hitting $98.96. The stock had a trading volume of 993,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 929,020. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.68 and a 200 day moving average of $92.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.