East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Holdings Decreased by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 46.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,960 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,359,511,000 after acquiring an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $216,438,000 after acquiring an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point increased their price target 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. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 5.0 %

East West Bancorp stock traded down $3.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,883,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,200. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock's fifty day moving average is $93.50 and its 200 day moving average is $95.68.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

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.