Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,763,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 480,264 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.54% of East West Bancorp worth $1,062,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,582,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $833,469,000 after buying an additional 159,963 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,370,000 after purchasing an additional 751,944 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $195,279,000 after purchasing an additional 886,841 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,462,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $177,145,000 after purchasing an additional 72,746 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $115,369,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

EWBC traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $71.65. 1,593,984 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,071,653. The stock's fifty day moving average is $74.06 and its 200-day moving average is $73.31. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.65 and a 12 month high of $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The company had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. East West Bancorp's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is 27.71%.

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.