Quest Partners LLC Has $2.06 Million Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 830,133.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 24,904 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 33,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,579,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 105,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 13,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,969 shares of company stock worth $2,625,276. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $0.42 on Tuesday, hitting $104.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 586,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,673. The company's 50-day moving average is $90.18 and its 200 day moving average is $81.74. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.34 and a 1-year high of $107.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.25.

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.