East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. by 15.3%, selling 81,427 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with approximately 0.33% ownership valued at $40.45 million.
• Several institutional investors made significant changes in their positions, including Picton Mahoney Asset Management which increased its stake by 1,971.4% during the same period.
• East West Bancorp's quarterly earnings reported a 10.3% year-over-year revenue increase, with a net margin of 26.06% and an EPS of $2.28, surpassing analyst expectations.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 450,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 81,427 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.33% of East West Bancorp worth $40,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 155.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $692,468,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696,157 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $137,390,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $83,330,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 203.0% in the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 817,306 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,361,000 after acquiring an additional 547,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 6,571.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 460,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,311,000 after acquiring an additional 453,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started 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. Truist Financial lifted 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 report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.15.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total transaction of $4,135,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at $91,833,901.32. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,601 shares of company stock valued at $6,543,972. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of EWBC stock traded down $1.02 on Friday, hitting $107.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,021,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,859. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day moving average is $104.36 and its 200-day moving average is $94.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 28.04%.

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.