39,818 Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Acquired by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 39,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,574,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 13,251 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 398,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,132,000 after purchasing an additional 46,417 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $166,590,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $1,973,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. This trade represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of East West Bancorp 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,100 shares of company stock valued at $8,191,984. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded down $2.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 505,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,045,950. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company's fifty day moving average price is $99.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.81. The company has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%. The company had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.