Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,833 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.08% of East West Bancorp worth $10,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,799,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,023,000 after buying an additional 15,829 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,513,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson reduced their target price 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.46.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 3.8 %

East West Bancorp stock traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.21. 1,311,526 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 918,602. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business's 50-day moving average price is $86.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.81%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares of the company's stock, 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 is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.