Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Decreases Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,954 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 108.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,157,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 24,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the 3rd 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. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,339. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $102.97 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $67.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $101.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.12. The firm has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.41%.

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.