Erste Asset Management GmbH Purchases 1,846 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,223,000 after buying an additional 136,528 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after purchasing an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,287,000 after purchasing an additional 123,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC opened at $87.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.71. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.