Axa S.A. Buys 1,701 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Axa S.A. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,701 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A. owned 0.08% of East West Bancorp worth $10,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EWBC. Barclays raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $88.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. 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 of $84.43 and a 200 day moving average of $94.78.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 60,181 shares of company stock worth $5,416,694 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.