East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 155.6% during the 1st quarter, owning approximately 5.57% of the company, valued at $692.5 million.
• Major institutional investors like Franklin Resources Inc. and Raymond James Financial Inc. have also increased their holdings in East West Bancorp, indicating strong interest from the investment community.
• Analysts have updated their price targets for the stock, with Wells Fargo raising it from $100 to $125, while the consensus price target now stands at $114.15.

Invesco Ltd. raised its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 155.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,696,157 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 5.57% of East West Bancorp worth $692,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 448.9% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.88. 560,598 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,034,944. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.64. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

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.