Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Trims Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,236 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $652,223,000 after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $350,152,000 after purchasing an additional 96,729 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,480,000 after buying an additional 118,658 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $149,287,000 after buying an additional 123,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $59,460,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % 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 ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $105.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 815,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,029. The stock's fifty day moving average is $97.79 and its 200 day moving average is $84.65. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.68 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EWBC. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.92.

East West Bancorp Profile

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.