East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Down 16.2% in February

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,310,000 shares, a decline of 16.2% from the January 31st total of 3,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 881,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.38.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.08. 1,718,997 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 855,466. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.78. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95. 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 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.