Fmr LLC Purchases 136,528 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

FMR LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 136,528 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 5.69% of East West Bancorp worth $652,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 55.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 99,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 35,453 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6,562.5% in the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,665 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $278,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 106.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.3% in the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Wedbush increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $109.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 309,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,388. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.41. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.87 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid 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 2.01%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

East West Bancorp Company 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.