East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Position Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.19% of East West Bancorp worth $423,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $652,223,000 after buying an additional 136,528 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $149,287,000 after buying an additional 123,376 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.2% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,552,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $128,414,000 after buying an additional 90,618 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.38.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $89.08. 1,718,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 856,196. The company has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.59. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.