Insider Selling: East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Sells 725 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 732,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 838,646. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $101.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.41%.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 299,962 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,687,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.38.

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.