Norges Bank Invests $166.59 Million in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,739,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $166,590,000. Norges Bank owned 1.25% of East West Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after purchasing an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.76 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.62. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

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.