Noesis Capital Mangement Corp Acquires Shares of 13,350 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $59,460,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 30.6% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 649,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,578,000 after acquiring an additional 152,334 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,079,000 after purchasing an additional 148,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $652,223,000 after buying an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.25.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.2 %

EWBC traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $110.05. 527,051 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 928,067. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.22. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.34 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.