Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 178,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,557 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.13% of East West Bancorp worth $17,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after buying an additional 632,245 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,138,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 171.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 384,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,847,000 after acquiring an additional 242,928 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.00.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the business’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 value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $71.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.58 and a 200-day moving average of $95.35. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.78 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

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.