By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC – Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.15% of East West Bancorp worth $19,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after acquiring an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after purchasing an additional 186,887 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in East West Bancorp by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,652,000 after purchasing an additional 183,675 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $166,590,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently issued reports on EWBC. Piper Sandler cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.46.
Get Our Latest Analysis on EWBC
East West Bancorp Trading Up 3.1 %
Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $74.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.
East West Bancorp Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.
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.
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