Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $127.00 to $118.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Compass Point raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

EWBC opened at $85.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $68.78 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.82 and a 200-day moving average of $94.67.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.