East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 223,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,026 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of East West Bancorp worth $21,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $100,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,060,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 915,745. The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The firm's fifty day moving average is $88.30 and its 200-day moving average is $94.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EWBC. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.46.

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.