East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc cut its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 20.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,739 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 490.1% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $110.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.34 and a 1 year high of $110.31.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

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.