East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Irene Oh Sells 800 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene Oh sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 84,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. This trade represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $130.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.01. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.79 and a 12-month high of $136.00.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after acquiring an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.2% during 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 buying an additional 106,998 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% during 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 buying an additional 306,916 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

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.