Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Invests $586,000 in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $586,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,174,000 after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,052,000 after acquiring an additional 437,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 10,357.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 367,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,985,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EWBC. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.85.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,919 shares of company stock worth $5,840,494 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $2.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $91.52. 762,112 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 922,373. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.07. The firm has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 15.71%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

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.