Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Lowers Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. cut its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 38,053 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 179.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. UBS Group set a $125.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $107.65 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $123.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.25 and a 200 day moving average of $109.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total transaction of $848,896.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,824.60. This represents a 8.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This trade represents a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.