First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,990,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,614 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.88% of East West Bancorp worth $382,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $0.83 on Thursday, reaching $85.27. 469,116 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 923,972. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $85.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. Analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.