California State Teachers Retirement System Has $2.67 Billion Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 12,510.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,651,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,487,542 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of East West Bancorp worth $2,665,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 78.5% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 2,611 shares during the period. AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $317,000. MOR Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $265,000. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 65.1% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total transaction of $1,323,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Manuel Alvarez sold 810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.40, for a total transaction of $105,624.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,386,021.60. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 12,610 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,896 over the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock opened at $129.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $131.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.00. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.67 and a 1-year high of $137.47.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. 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%.

East West Bancorp 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.