Jefferies Financial Group Lowers East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $85.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective reduced by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $94.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.00% from the company’s current price.

EWBC has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.7 %

EWBC opened at $72.65 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $49.59 and a 1-year high of $79.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.54.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,370,000 after buying an additional 751,944 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,347,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 40,757.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after buying an additional 103,117 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 11,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 377,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,138,000 after purchasing an additional 46,416 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.