BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 58.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,592 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,832,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 159.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 18,166 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $4,157,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 24,904 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EWBC. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $105.87. 571,950 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 922,069. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.68 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.31 and a 200-day moving average of $84.44.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

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.