Nordea Investment Management AB Boosts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 108.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 152.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 39.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,079,000 after purchasing an additional 148,530 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,287,000 after purchasing an additional 123,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $93.51 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $101.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.06. 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 market cap of $12.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.28.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. This trade represents a 7.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.