East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 412,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 107,000 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.29% of East West Bancorp worth $29,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 17.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after buying an additional 3,228 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $836,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.1% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 77,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,821 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 221.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,803,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,090,792,000 after purchasing an additional 86,848 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.15.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $72.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.36. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.12 and a 1-year high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $654.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 18.47%. East West Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $0.55 dividend. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.89%.

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.