Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC - Free Report) by 1,667.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 670,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.48% of East West Bancorp worth $64,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Amundi increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,772,000 after buying an additional 15,279 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 53,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,095,000 after acquiring an additional 12,268 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $335,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $32,138,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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 that occurred 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 directly owns 14,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $85.03. The stock had a trading volume of 989,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,309. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $97.00 and a 200-day moving average of $94.74. The firm has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EWBC. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.31.

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.