First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. Sells 583 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 583 shares during the period. East West Bancorp comprises 1.3% of First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 822.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on 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. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC opened at $88.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.83 and a 200 day moving average of $95.68. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

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.