Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,079 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 366,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,131,000 after purchasing an additional 23,507 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 416.8% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 24,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 19,589 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 224,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,503,000 after purchasing an additional 50,853 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,321 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,894,000 after buying an additional 36,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $1.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.80. 500,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 923,895. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $3,857,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 928,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,919 shares of company stock worth $5,840,494. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.85.

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.