Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Raises Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the second quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% in the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 5,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $124.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Cowen started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $104.49 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $103.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.36.

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

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total value of $1,000,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 45,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,551,820. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.40, for a total transaction of $105,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $956,610.40. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,220 shares of company stock valued at $4,446,488. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.