East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Holdings Trimmed by Maltese Capital Management LLC

Maltese Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 20.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 47,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total value of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,807. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total value of $848,896.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,824.60. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,221 shares of company stock worth $9,431,089. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research downgraded East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $103.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.55. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $123.82. 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 cap of $14.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The firm 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

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.