Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 96,729 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.05% of East West Bancorp worth $350,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 490.1% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded up $3.25 on Friday, reaching $110.08. The company had a trading volume of 886,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,094. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.34 and a 1 year high of $110.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current 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, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.25.

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.