East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Purchased by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $6,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $74.40 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.11. 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 cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler decreased 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 note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.46.

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.