East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stake Decreased by Millennium Management LLC

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

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,359,511,000 after acquiring an additional 70,503 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $765,167,000 after buying an additional 107,665 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 183,675 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated 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. DA Davidson dropped their price target 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.54.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded down $0.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.34. The stock had a trading volume of 689,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 917,075. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company's 50-day moving average price is $85.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.55.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 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.