Jennison Associates LLC Boosts Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,855 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.23% of East West Bancorp worth $152,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 440,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,582,000 after purchasing an additional 56,201 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 131,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,846,000 after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 263,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $149,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of 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. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC traded up $0.73 on Friday, hitting $108.95. 860,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 932,478. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. Sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

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.