LPL Financial LLC Purchases 13,251 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 41.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,251 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 6,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 2,518 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 27.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 2.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.46. The stock had a trading volume of 104,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,097. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

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.