Insider Selling: East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Sells 469 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $107.16 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.43 and a twelve month high of $107.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.46.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.