Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 689.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,093 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of East West Bancorp 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,919 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,494 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.9%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $91.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.83. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. Equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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 research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.85.

About East West Bancorp

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.

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