Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. significantly reduced its stake in East West Bancorp by 85.6%, selling 589,928 shares, and now holds only 99,410 shares, valued at approximately $8.9 million.
• In contrast, several large investors, including FMR LLC and Invesco Ltd., have increased their stakes in East West Bancorp, indicating continued institutional interest.
• Despite varying analyst ratings, Wells Fargo recently raised its price target for East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00, suggesting a positive outlook for the stock.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 85.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 589,928 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.07% of East West Bancorp worth $8,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $765,167,000 after purchasing an additional 107,665 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,876,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $179,688,000 after purchasing an additional 324,410 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $152,739,000 after purchasing an additional 32,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,226,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,414,000 after purchasing an additional 228,825 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday. 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $98.80 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.73. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. East West Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,833,901.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,191,984 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.