Insider Selling: East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) EVP Sells 7,000 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,842.68. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $4.04 on Friday, hitting $122.50. 1,140,774 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,175,671. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $123.22.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of 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, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $274,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 28,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.