East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Purchased by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,655 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $22,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.53.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $106.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.48. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.04%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.