EAM Global Investors LLC Buys New Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

EAM Global Investors LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 34,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,283,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 5,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 8,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $718,000. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 2,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 183,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,584,000 after buying an additional 38,307 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. 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. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC opened at $75.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.98. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.