East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Bought by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 830,133.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,904 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,509.50. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $103.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.34 and a 52-week high of $107.68.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on EWBC. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

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.