Bessemer Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,912 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 155.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,714,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $692,468,000 after buying an additional 4,696,157 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,733,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,843,000 after acquiring an additional 314,262 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,005,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,525,000 after acquiring an additional 46,717 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,701,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,739,000 after acquiring an additional 32,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $137,390,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $101.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.20. The stock has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 15.55%. On average, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total transaction of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This trade represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,220 shares of company stock valued at $3,343,478. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.