East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,485 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 89.7% during 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 during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,100 shares of company stock worth $8,191,984 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $1.91 on Friday, reaching $99.32. The company had a trading volume of 206,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,038,268. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $100.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%. The business had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Company 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.