East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng Sells 35,023 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 35,023 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.57, for a total transaction of $4,572,953.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 637,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,294,520.10. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 9th, Dominic Ng sold 34,977 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.12, for a total value of $4,621,161.24.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.21. The stock had a trading volume of 737,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 885,746. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.99. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.72 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,744,958,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,624,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $449,166,000 after acquiring an additional 50,049 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,915,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,470,000 after acquiring an additional 168,029 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,652,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $130,744,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Stephens upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.71.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for East West Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank initially served Chinese American communities in Southern California and has since expanded its services and geographic reach. East West Bank provides personal and business banking, commercial lending, trade finance, treasury management and other financial services. Its customers include individuals, small and midsize businesses, and larger companies, with a focus on supporting commerce between the United States and Asia.