Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys 989 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 11.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 989 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EWBC. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total value of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,392,713.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.53.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $78.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.51. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.59 and a twelve month high of $89.75. The firm has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $631.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.