Insider Selling: East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Sells 500 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene Oh sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total value of $66,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,498 shares in the company, valued at $11,328,485. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $2.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.63. 1,000,596 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,035,090. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.47. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.79 and a 52 week high of $132.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 34.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 118.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 19,178 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $133.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

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.