New York State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 168,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,538 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of East West Bancorp worth $15,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. 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 on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $108.38.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $108.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 604,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,688. The stock has a market cap of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.95 and a 200-day moving average of $92.48.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. Research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

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.