East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Stock Position Raised by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP significantly increased its stake in East West Bancorp, acquiring 453,342 shares, bringing its total ownership to 460,241 shares, valued at approximately $41.3 million.
• East West Bancorp reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.28, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, yielding 2.3% annually.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on East West Bancorp, with Citigroup raising its price target to $116 and Wells Fargo increasing it to $125, reflecting positive investor sentiment.

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 6,571.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 460,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 453,342 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.33% of East West Bancorp worth $41,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 470.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing 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 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.15.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $106.01. 404,798 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,009,899. 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 $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.44 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $103.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.77.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $702.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. East West Bancorp's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Company 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.