East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Barclays dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $12.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.01.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.81%.

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.