East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC reduced its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 516,261 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 111,521 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.37% of East West Bancorp worth $49,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,359,511,000 after purchasing an additional 70,503 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $765,167,000 after purchasing an additional 107,665 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,052,000 after buying an additional 437,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,652,000 after buying an additional 183,675 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.38. The stock had a trading volume of 206,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,969. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.53. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's 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 owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. The trade was 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 at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,281 shares of company stock worth $9,473,478. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.85.

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.