East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Position Cut by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 41.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,037 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,404,000 after acquiring an additional 225,799 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,079,000 after purchasing an additional 148,530 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $12,734,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.1 %

EWBC traded down $2.16 on Monday, reaching $100.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 544,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,535. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The business's 50 day moving average is $101.02 and its 200 day moving average is $92.19. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 26.41%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,339. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Citigroup raised 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.38.

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.