Wedmont Private Capital Raises Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 25.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 234,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,159,000 after purchasing an additional 22,726 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,071,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,480,000 after purchasing an additional 118,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $4,334,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $100.53 on Thursday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $101.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. This represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Compass Point upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup upped their target price 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, Barclays increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.77.

East West Bancorp 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.