Vest Financial LLC Buys 17,544 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.8%, purchasing an additional 17,544 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.35% valued at $48.1 million.
• Insider trading activities included Irene H. Oh selling 7,639 shares and CEO Dominic Ng selling 40,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their respective holdings.
• East West Bancorp recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60, yielding 2.4%, and has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion with an average price target of $121.33 from analysts.

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 476,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,544 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.35% of East West Bancorp worth $48,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $835,706.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 105,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,565,111.60. This trade represents a 6.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $99.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50 day moving average is $105.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The company had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. Analysts expect 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 issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EWBC. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $112.00 target price on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.33.

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.

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