Focus Partners Wealth Acquires Shares of 61,164 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 61,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,910,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $1,072,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 466,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,702,000 after acquiring an additional 126,206 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on EWBC. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.54.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,281 shares of company stock valued at $9,473,478 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.04. The company had a trading volume of 62,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,593. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $85.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.55. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 28.64%.

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.