River Global Investors LLP Cuts Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

River Global Investors LLP decreased its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock traded up $1.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,173,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,462. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.65. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.12 and a 52 week high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

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.