Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 100,564 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,096,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 100,564 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.18% of East West Bancorp worth $1,265,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 36.6% in the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 28,152 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 7,548 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 203.0% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 817,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,361,000 after acquiring an additional 547,556 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 79.3% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 3,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 45.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.93. The stock had a trading volume of 84,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,024,784. The company has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average price is $101.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.