East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Bought by Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1,178.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $339,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $2.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.36. The company had a trading volume of 950,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,183. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $96.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.95. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

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.