LMR Partners LLP Buys Shares of 4,096 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This trade represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,969 shares of company stock worth $2,625,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of EWBC opened at $105.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.34 and a 1-year high of $107.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $90.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Stephens raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

About East West Bancorp

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.