ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 4,981 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 250,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,981 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of East West Bancorp worth $18,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 9,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 2,629 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $473,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 47,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,448,000 after buying an additional 15,118 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 412,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,643,000 after buying an additional 107,000 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $2,849,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EWBC. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Compass Point raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 value of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $1.08 on Friday, reaching $72.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,719,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,754. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.70. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.12 and a 1 year high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 29.11%. The firm had revenue of $654.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.89%.

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.