Invesco Ltd. Purchases 2,968,716 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 38.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,968,716 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 7.75% of East West Bancorp worth $1,078,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,820. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $159,189.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,556 shares in the company, valued at $791,339.88. This trade represents a 16.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 22,139 shares of company stock worth $2,301,906 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $107.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $110.80.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.08.

East West Bancorp 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.