Voya Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,477 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,036 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $765,167,000 after acquiring an additional 107,665 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $423,148,000 after acquiring an additional 186,887 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 183,675 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. DA Davidson cut 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.46.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $2.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.11. 822,757 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,309. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm's 50 day moving average is $84.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.79.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 60,181 shares of company stock worth $5,416,694. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.