East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 313 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 2.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.4% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.0% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in East West Bancorp by 5.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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, Barclays raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.73.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

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

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $82.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.05. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.59 and a 12 month high of $89.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The company had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio 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.