Fmr LLC Acquires 136,528 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Fmr LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned about 0.06% of East West Bancorp worth $652,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 687,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,079,000 after buying an additional 148,530 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 86.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 6,002 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 22.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,152,000 after acquiring an additional 96,729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $110.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.34 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.41.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

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.