Creative Planning Has $1.33 Million Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Creative Planning boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 34,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,739,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $414,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $206,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 56,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,436,000 after acquiring an additional 14,998 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush lifted their target price 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. DA Davidson increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve 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 a consensus target price of $99.46.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.4 %

EWBC stock opened at $98.83 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.91 and a 52 week high of $101.31. The company has a market capitalization of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 16.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.21 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,509.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,772,055 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.