East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Manuel Pham Alvarez Sells 810 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total value of $105,624.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.8%

EWBC opened at $129.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.67 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $131.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.45% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 27.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 81,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,480,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.15.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: EWBC) is the holding company for East West Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through its East West Bank subsidiary.

East West Bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, residential mortgage services, wealth management, treasury management, and international banking services. Its products support commercial real estate, commercial and industrial businesses, residential borrowers, and consumers.

The bank has a particular focus on serving communities and businesses connected to the United States and Greater China.