Capital International Investors Has $872.31 Million Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Capital International Investors lessened its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,108,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 636,536 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned 6.57% of East West Bancorp worth $872,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 12.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,023,000 after buying an additional 15,829 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $5,513,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $5.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,162,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,766. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.