Farringdon Capital Ltd. Buys Shares of 3,439 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $100,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 2.0 %

EWBC opened at $77.43 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.46.

East West Bancorp 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.