Brighton Jones LLC Makes New Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RedJay Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. RedJay Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,049,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $326,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $219,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 249.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 9,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded East West Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Cowen started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.02, for a total transaction of $98,999.60. Following the sale, the director owned 11,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,118,897.52. The trade was a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 31,220 shares of company stock worth $3,343,478 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock opened at $101.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.20. The company has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%.The firm had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

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.