Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 44,895 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 44,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,715,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 490.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,969 shares of company stock worth $2,625,276. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $103.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.34 and a 52-week high of $107.68. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $89.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

About East West Bancorp

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.