Deutsche Bank AG Acquires Shares of 25,179 East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 25,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,250,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,523,000 after acquiring an additional 27,402 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,046,000 after purchasing an additional 20,264 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $1,044,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $1,516,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,974 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,248.38. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,511 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,741. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.8%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $130.43 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.67 and a fifty-two week high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The firm had revenue of $789.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.77%.

East West Bancorp 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.