Nordea Investment Management AB Raises Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 108.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $350,152,000 after buying an additional 96,729 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $133,480,000 after acquiring an additional 118,658 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Compass Point upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.77.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock traded down $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,003,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,279. The stock has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $101.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.18. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

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.