East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by NewEdge Advisors LLC

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 427.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,206 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $289,052,000 after buying an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,138,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded down $0.71 on Friday, hitting $85.26. 757,763 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 923,240. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $85.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. Analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 valued at $5,625,732 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.46.

About East West Bancorp

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.