Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Purchases 5,155 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,155 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. owned 0.09% of East West Bancorp worth $12,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds 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 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $652,223,000 after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $423,148,000 after purchasing an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings 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 worth $228,269,000 after buying an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp 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 owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

EWBC traded down $0.23 on Tuesday, reaching $93.03. 1,139,325 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 841,586. 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 company has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.19. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

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.