Edgestream Partners L.P. Reduces Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. decreased its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 32.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,202 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $100,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $108.95. 860,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 933,381. The company has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.16.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.85.

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.