Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 22,869 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 73,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,869 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of East West Bancorp worth $6,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.5% during the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.2% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 121,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,910,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.0% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 168,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,157,000 after buying an additional 6,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.85.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $1.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $106.95. The company had a trading volume of 830,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,354. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50-day moving average is $96.04 and its 200 day moving average is $92.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

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.