Sanctuary Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 822.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC opened at $93.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.78 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.77.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.