UMB Bank n.a. Buys 301 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 83.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $63,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,152,000 after buying an additional 96,729 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.23.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

EWBC stock opened at $102.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.05. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.