TD Cowen Has Lowered Expectations for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at TD Cowen from $141.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.63% from the stock’s previous close.

EWBC has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.21.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $113.24. The stock had a trading volume of 531,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,119,165. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.88. East West Bancorp has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $119.73. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $1,017,325.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. The trade was a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,530,219.82. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 38.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,807,000 after buying an additional 2,968,716 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $174,431,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,241,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,271,000 after acquiring an additional 920,159 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 448.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 840,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,861,000 after buying an additional 687,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,207,000 after purchasing an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.