Maverick Capital Ltd. Buys New Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake 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 valued at $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185,781 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,207,000 after acquiring an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of East West Bancorp 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,311 shares of company stock worth $6,784,711 over the last quarter. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $129.89 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.67 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $128.35 and its 200-day moving average is $119.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $791.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.23.

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.