World Investment Advisors Trims Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

World Investment Advisors reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 96.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,399 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 64,234 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 43,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $272,652,000 after acquiring an additional 183,675 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 139,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,376,000 after acquiring an additional 28,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 20,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,967,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock traded up $2.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.62. The stock had a trading volume of 200,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,664. The company's 50-day moving average price is $88.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.11. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.46.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.