Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 21,785 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,184,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,785 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $126,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 127.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 179.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total transaction of $159,189.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,339.88. This represents a 16.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total transaction of $3,408,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 858,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,530,219.82. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 72,364 shares of company stock valued at $8,085,227 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $114.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.14 and a 200-day moving average of $107.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.88. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $119.73.

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

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 25.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.21.

East West Bancorp 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.