East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $116.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.61. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $117.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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 (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $1,017,325.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719,698.50. This represents a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total value of $3,408,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 858,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,530,219.82. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth $28,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.