EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,438 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,438 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $70.75 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.65 and a 12 month high of $79.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.27. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.71%.

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.