Graham Capital Management L.P. Raises Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 136.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 56,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,346 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Norges Bank bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 17.0% in 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, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,138,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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. Barclays lifted 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. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.46.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $89.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.67.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 60,181 shares of company stock worth $5,416,694 in the last 90 days. Company 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.