Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Sells 136 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 131.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

EWBC stock opened at $103.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.70. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the company’s 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 owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,194 shares of company stock valued at $1,401,063. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.