Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $2.48 Million Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 289 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JB Capital LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 1.6% during the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 59,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,003,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 4.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 97.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 880.7% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 19,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 28,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total transaction of $1,606,393.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 113,353 shares in the company, valued at $12,098,165.69. This trade represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $101.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.11. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial set a $112.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.33.

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.