7,390 Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Purchased by MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 65.1% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.81. 121,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,200,292. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.82. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.60 and a 1-year high of $79.54.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.71%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 is available at this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About East West Bancorp

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.