Avanza Fonder AB Acquires New Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 10,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Tobam grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC opened at $100.80 on Monday. 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 cap of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.50 and a 200-day moving average of $90.22.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.77.

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.