East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Increased to $103.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $103.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EWBC. Wedbush boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $89.53.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $78.51 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.78 and a 200-day moving average of $74.95. The stock has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.32. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $49.59 and a 52 week high of $89.75.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. On average, analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,621,111.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,531,240 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,071,000 after buying an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 0.6% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 617,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 324,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,789,000 after acquiring an additional 80,735 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,460,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $699,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.