SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 6,235 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 470.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,235 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the first 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 during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price 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 equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $1.47 on Friday, hitting $95.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,052,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 929,083. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $89.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.43.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.23%. Analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. 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.