B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $4.10 Million Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,422 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,359,511,000 after acquiring an additional 70,503 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $439,763,000 after purchasing an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $423,148,000 after purchasing an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,652,000 after purchasing an additional 183,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 5.0 %

EWBC stock traded down $3.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.04. 2,883,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 886,200. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $93.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.58. The firm has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

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.