East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng Sells 50,000 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total value of $5,891,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 808,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,237,558.42. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, December 12th, Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total transaction of $3,408,900.00.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $117.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $119.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.25.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 33.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, UBS Group set a $125.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 127.6% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.