East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given New $95.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Stephens lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $88.60.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $87.97 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $49.59 and a fifty-two week high of $88.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.32.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The company had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Capital International Investors raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,582,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $833,469,000 after buying an additional 159,963 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $338,142,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,370,000 after purchasing an additional 751,944 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,279,000 after purchasing an additional 886,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,462,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,145,000 after purchasing an additional 72,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.