KBC Group NV Has $3.42 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 787.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,669 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EWBC. FMR LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 96,729 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $216,438,000 after acquiring an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,000 shares of company stock worth $1,488,358 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock traded up $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $101.63. 610,534 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 900,447. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.30. The company's fifty day moving average price is $100.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.41%.

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.