East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Position Lowered by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 51.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,285 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,961 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,072,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $639,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,352,000 after buying an additional 68,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of 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.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded up $1.45 on Tuesday, hitting $98.96. 993,668 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 930,426. The firm has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. On average, research 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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 shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 now owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

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.