Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $9,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 33,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 49.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 105,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 20.1% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 13,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on EWBC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wedbush increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.25.

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 shares were 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 directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, 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 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 shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,382,509.50. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,969 shares of company stock worth $2,625,276. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $103.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.49. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $60.34 and a one year high of $107.68. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

East West Bancorp Company 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.