KBC Group NV Trims Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

KBC Group NV cut its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 83.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 29,751 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the 1st 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

East West Bancorp stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $108.20. 1,170,462 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 930,223. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $94.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. On average, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company'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 directly owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.