South Dakota Investment Council Trims Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 21.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 32,663 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.08% of East West Bancorp worth $10,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $166,590,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 10,357.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 367,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,985,000 after purchasing an additional 363,963 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,138,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,876,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $179,688,000 after purchasing an additional 324,410 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.5%

EWBC traded down $0.50 on Monday, hitting $108.45. 374,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,047,265. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.23.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. On average, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 directly owned 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.