East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,820,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 111,401 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.31% of East West Bancorp worth $150,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp 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 sale, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EWBC. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.91. The stock had a trading volume of 3,726,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 935,538. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.23 and a 200-day moving average of $86.60. The firm has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid 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 yield of 2.29%. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

East West Bancorp 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.