Atria Investments Inc Decreases Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,925 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 490.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EWBC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.25.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This trade represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $110.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.80 and a 200-day moving average of $82.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.34 and a 12-month high of $110.31.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

East West Bancorp 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.