East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Irene Oh Sells 500 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene Oh sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total value of $66,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at $11,328,485. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.9%

EWBC opened at $132.63 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.79 and a 12 month high of $132.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.59.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,981,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,822,000 after purchasing an additional 106,998 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,620,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,329,000 after purchasing an additional 306,916 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,713,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,619,000 after buying an additional 318,303 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.