Wellington Management Group LLP Has $1.49 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 76.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,658 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Wedbush lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $95.10 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $100.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

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.