T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. has increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.2%, acquiring an additional 46,717 shares, bringing its total ownership to 4,005,394 shares valued at approximately $359.5 million.
• Equities analysts have varied opinions on East West Bancorp, with DA Davidson and Wells Fargo raising their price targets to $125, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it from "hold" to "sell".
• East West Bancorp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, indicating an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 28.04%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,005,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 46,717 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.89% of East West Bancorp worth $359,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.9% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.9% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 470.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 6,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $1,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded up $4.49 on Friday, reaching $105.20. The company had a trading volume of 935,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 749,619. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.63.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $702.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. East West Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

About East West Bancorp

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.