Headlands Technologies LLC Cuts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Headlands Technologies LLC reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,389 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 40,757.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after buying an additional 103,117 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 92.7% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 48,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after buying an additional 23,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,502,000 after buying an additional 215,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 12.2% during the third quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 279,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,715,000 after buying an additional 30,466 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. Compass Point increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 503,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,786. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.12 and a 1 year high of $79.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.39.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The company had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $636.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.