M&G Plc Acquires New Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 124,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,078,000. M&G Plc owned 0.09% of East West Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $338,142,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $115,369,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $67,692,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 48.5% in 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, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 112.5% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,013,000 after purchasing an additional 762,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,346 shares of company stock worth $1,531,240 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $78.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.06. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.59 and a 1 year high of $89.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

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.