Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,460 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $100,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. This represents 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.85.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC traded up $2.92 on Thursday, reaching $101.75. 1,010,620 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,069,798. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $90.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.37. The stock has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.64%.

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.